A woman who said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her more than 50 years ago when she was a young comedy writer filed a lawsuit Thursday against the actor under a soon-to-expire New York law that gives victims of sexual abuse a period of a year gave claims that would otherwise have been barred by time limits.
Joan Tarshis initially came forward with allegations against Cosby in 2014 that are repeated in the new lawsuit. Tarshis said Cosby drugged her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in 1969 or 1970, then drugged and raped her in another encounter a year or two later.
The New York resident was living in California at the time of the first attack and had met Cosby through a mutual friend while starring on “The Bill Cosby Show,” according to the lawsuit, filed in New York City State Supreme Court.
A spokesperson for Cosby did not elaborate on the details of Tarshis’ claims.
“Diddy, LA Reid, Steven Tyler, and now they’re coming back to this,” said spokesman Andrew Wyatt, referring to others recently charged under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. “When is this going to stop?”
Cosby, 86, has been accused of rape, assault and sexual harassment by more than 60 women. He has denied all allegations of sex crimes. He was the first celebrity to be tried and convicted in the #MeToo era, spending nearly three years in a state prison near Philadelphia before a higher court overturned the conviction and released him in 2021.
Tarshis was one of the first accusers to speak publicly about Cosby, whom she met when she was 19 and just starting to write comedies. An interview she did with CNN journalist Don Lemon shortly after she came forward drew widespread attention on social media and an apology from Lemon. While on air, the host suggested that Tarshis could have bit Cosby on the genitals during the initial attack, something Tarshis said she had not thought of.
Tarshis previously sued Cosby in Massachusetts, where Cosby had a home. She was one of seven women who filed defamation claims after Cosby labeled them liars. The cases were settled in 2019.
The new lawsuit alleges assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. It is seeking unspecified damages.
In it, Tarshis said Cosby invited her to meet him on the studio lot where he was filming his show, under the pretense that she was working on a sketch she was writing. Once at his bungalow, Tarshis said she fell unconscious after accepting a drink from Cosby and woke up when he undressed her before forcing her to perform oral sex.
“Ms. Tarshis was mortified and feared for her life,” and returned to New York without telling anyone what had happened, the lawsuit said.
She next heard from Cosby in 1971, when he called her home, spoke to her mother and invited her to his show at the Westbury Music Fair, the lawsuit said.
“Although Ms. Tarshis was frightened at the prospect of seeing Cosby again, she had not yet told anyone, including her mother, about the prior sexual assault and reluctantly agreed to meet with Cosby at her mother’s urging,” the lawsuit said.
She said she lost consciousness in a limousine that Cosby had arranged for them and woke up the next morning in a bed next to Cosby, who she said had stripped her naked and raped her.
The Adult Survivors Act expires next week.
Antonio “LA” Reid, a music executive, was sued last week by an executive who claims Reid sexually assaulted her twice in 2001. Email and phone messages left for Joel Katz, an attorney who represented Reid when the allegations came to light in 2017, were not immediately returned Friday evening.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has denied allegations of rape and abuse by an ex-girlfriend earlier this week.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has not publicly responded to a lawsuit filed earlier this month.