Bill Cosby Faces New Civil Suit for Alleged Rape
Bill Cosby faces a new sexual assault lawsuit from a New Mexico woman who says the comedian raped her 51 years ago.
On Thursday, Donna Motsinger filed an 11-page complaint against Cosby in Los Angeles Superior Court. In it, the woman alleges that Cosby followed her home in 1972 after the two met at The Trident Sausalito restaurant, where he was a performer and she was a waitress. Afterward, she said Cosby invited her to his comedy show scheduled that evening at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, where his fourteenth stand-up album “Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby” was filmed.
“Mr. Cosby picked Ms. Motsinger up in a limousine from her house and drove her to the Circle Star Theater,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Cosby gave Ms. Motsinger a glass of wine in the limo along the way. At the Circle Star Theater, Mr. Cosby took Ms. Motsinger to the dressing room there. She began to feel sick and Mr. Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin.
“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine with Mr. Cosby,” the lawsuit continues. “In the limousine, Mr. Cosby sat near the window and put his arms around her. The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light. She woke up in her house with all her clothes off, except her underwear on – no top, no bra, and no pants.”
Motsinger was one of 13 women who testified against Cosby during a 2005 sexual assault civil trial, where she alleged he drugged and sexually assaulted her. The new suit seeks to hold Cosby and his production company responsible for the alleged act, as well as going after the Circle Star Theater for “failing to ensure the safety of its guests at the hands of its performers.”
This is the latest in the long series of public allegations made against Cosby. He was previously released after serving three years of a 10-year prison sentence. The comic was sentenced in September 2018 after being found guilty on three counts of aggravated assault at retrial on April 26, 2018. At least 60 women have come forward to accuse the entertainer of sexual assault.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s 2019 felony conviction in May 2021 after it was ruled that a “non-prosecution agreement” was supposed to have prevented him from standing trial. He was released in June 2021.
“I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence,” Cosby wrote in a social media statement at the time. “Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law.”
In a statement on the lawsuit, Motsinger’s attorney, Jesse Creed, praised his client.
“We applaud Ms. Motsinger for her courage to come forward and demand justice against Mr. Cosby and those who enabled him to commit these alleged heinous acts against her,” Creed wrote. “As alleged in the complaint, these iconic companies and organizations not only provided a platform for Mr. Cosby to showcase his fame and fortune to lure in women, but then put their own profits over the safety of their female guests by turning a blind eye to Mr. Cosby’s alleged sexual assaults on women.”
TheWrap has reached out to Bill Cosby’s attorney to request comment.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
The post Bill Cosby Faces New Civil Suit for Alleged Rape appeared first on TheWrap.
