Over the last one year, over 40 women have come forward to say that they were raped or molested by Cosby after he plied them with drugs or alcohol in incidents dating back decades.
The New York Magazine has brought together 35 women accusing Bill Cosby of raping or molesting them on the cover of its magazine on Sunday. In a powerful 13 page photo essay, the women talk about coming out with their charges and dealing with the public backlash that has come with accusing one of the most iconic faces of American pop culture with rape.
The striking cover photo shows the women dressed in black and seated against a white background, with one empty chair. In the cover story, written by Noreen Malone, they talk about the abuse they faced at the hands of Cosby. The story is in the form of text, video and photos.
Over the last one year, over 40 women have come forward to say that they were raped or molested by Cosby after he plied them with drugs or alcohol in incidents dating back decades.
Cosby has never been charged. In 2014, Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to bring a criminal case against him over Judy Huth's allegations, saying the matter dated back too far under California's statute of limitations.
The complaint filed by Huth against Cosby is one of at least four pending civil lawsuits stemming from such accusations, but Huth is the only one seeking damages for the alleged sexual misconduct itself. The others are defamation suits whose principal causes of action allege the entertainer falsely branded his accusers as liars by denying that he ever sexually assaulted them.
In addition, Los Angeles police are conducting a criminal investigation into a complaint brought against Cosby, an LAPD spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.
Also read: Bill Cosby biographer apologises for omitting rape allegations
The ongoing controversy came to a head when a federal judge in Philadelphia unsealed excerpts of a deposition Cosby gave in a separate sexual assault case he settled with a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, for an undisclosed sum in 2006.
The excerpts included Cosby's admission under oath that he had obtained Quaaludes, the brand name for a sedative widely used as a recreational drug in the 1970s, with the intent of giving the pills to young women in order to have sex with them.
Also read: 'Bill Cosby used fame, money and drugs to pursue women'
Bill Cosby lost his bid to fend off a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1974 when the California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the comedian's petition to review the case.
The accuser's attorney, Gloria Allred, said the decision cleared the way for litigation brought by Judy Huth, now in her 50s, to proceed, and that she intended to take Cosby's sworn deposition within the next 30 days. "We are looking forward to Mr. Cosby answering questions under oath at his deposition," Allred said. "It's a very big victory."
With inputs from Reuters.
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