Disgraced comedian and actor Bill Cosby is facing a new lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct in Los Angeles County, The Washington Post reports.
Cosby, 85, is being sued by Victoria Valentino for an alleged drugging and rape that took place in 1969.
According to Valentino, Cosby offered her and her friend pills at a Melrose Avenue restaurant, then later took them to his office, where they passed out from the drugs and he tried to rape Valentino’s friend.
When Valentino awoke, she stopped Cosby, who then raped her instead, she claims.
Valentino, who came forward with rape claims against Cosby in 2014, one of dozens of women who have done so.
She filed this lawsuit under California’s Assembly Bill 2777, a law that allows sexual abuse victims to sue the perpetrators even if the crime occurred outside of the statute of limitations, according to the National Law Review.
Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in 2018, though the verdict was thrown out on appeal in 2021 due to a technicality. He served more than two years in prison.
In response to the lawsuit, Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told the Post that “in my opinion, these women are not victims of sexual assault, they are victims of greed.”
Wyatt added that the claims are part of a “formula” to take down successful Black men like Cosby and singer R Kelly, the Post reported.
“They don’t want this Black man to leave this earth as America’s dad. They don’t want white kids looking up to him as America’s dad and wanting their fathers to be like him,” Wyatt said.
Cosby said late last year he plans to go on a comedy tour in 2023.
