Bill Cosby Sued for Alleged Sexual Assault of Actress During 1971 Audition
Bill Cosby is facing another sexual assault lawsuit, this one filed by Linda Ridgway-Whitedeer, who accused the disgraced actor of forcing her to perform oral sex on him during an audition in 1971.
Ridgway-Whitedeer, 77, was part of an early wave of Cosby accusers, first accusing him of assault in 2015. This is the first time, however, that Ridgway-Whitedeer has taken legal action against Cosby, filing her lawsuit under a California law passed last year that allows adult sexual assault survivors to take alleged abusers to court no matter how long ago the incident occurred.
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Along with suing Cosby, Ridgway-Whitedeer named the prominent talent agency William Morris Endeavor (then known as just the William Morris Agency) as a co-defendant. At the time of the alleged assault, both Cosby and Ridgway-Whitedeer were William Morris clients, and Ridgway-Whitedeer claims the agency “knew, or should have had knowledge of [Cosby’s] repeated ads of sexual assault.”
In a statement, Ridgway-Whitedeer’s lawyer, Jeff Anderson, said: “There are two levels of betrayal at play here that put Linda in Cosby’s clutches. The first is Cosby’s power to summon any young, vulnerable actress with promises of a career and opportunities. But he didn’t give these women jobs or opportunities in the entertainment industry. He sexually assaulted them. The second layer of betrayal is the William Morris Agency. They knew or should have known that actresses were going to auditions with Cosby and coming back traumatized, assaulted, and raped. And what did William Morris do? Nothing.”
Andrew Wyatt, a spokesperson for Cosby, said in a statement shared with Rolling Stone: “Mr. Cosby vehemently denies the allegations waged against him and maintains his innocence as well as vows to fight these alleged allegations vigorously in the court of public opinion and in the courtroom.”
A rep for William Morris Endeavor did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
In her lawsuit, Ridgway-Whitedeer said that she believed Cosby “reached out to the William Morris Agency directly” and requested her for an audition for his movie Hickey and Boggs. Ridgway-Whitedeer says she arrived at the filming location, but instead of meeting the director and other individuals involved in the casting process as expected, she was met by just Cosby and “quickly ushered into the empty director’s office.”
Ridgway-Whitedeer claims Cosby “stated in a commanding voice, ‘Have a Seat!’ The chair was allegedly placed right in front of the door, and before Ridgway-Whitedeer could move it closer to a desk in the room, she says she felt “Cosby’s hand grab her hair behind her head.” She added that Cosby now had his back to the closed door “so that if anyone were to enter, they would not be able to see what was happening within.”
At this point, Ridgway-Whitedeer said she looked up and saw that “Cosby had removed his penis from his pants and before Plaintiff could react, Defendant Cosby forced his penis into Plaintiff’s mouth before ultimately ejaculating on her face, clothing and hair.”
Ridgway-Whitedeer went on to allege that she was “unable to breathe and in shock from what had transpired” and was “unable to react.” She also said Cosby “used a tissue to attempt to wipe his semen” from her face” and then “escorted [her] to her car.”
Numerous women have accused Cosby of drugging and raping them over the years, and Cosby has repeatedly denied the allegations. In 2018, a jury found him guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against accuser Andrea Constant, and a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison. In 2021, however, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction, citing trial error and a previous agreement with a prosecutor.
Last June, a jury found Cosby guilty of the sexual battery of a 16-year-old girl in the Seventies, awarding the plaintiff $500,000. This past December, five more women sued Cosby for sexual assault, while additional suits were filed in June and August.
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