The number of women accusing Bill Cosby of drugging and assaulting them in the 1970s and 1980s now stands at 41.
At a press conference Thursday, attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing some of the alleged victims, added three more names to the list.
- Janice Baker-Kinney, a former Reno, Nev., bartender who was 24 when Cosby allegedly drugged and raped her in 1984 at a party at a house owned by her employer, Harrah Casino.
- Marcella Tate, a former Wilhelmina model, who alleges that Cosby drugged her and raped her at the Playboy mansion in 1975, when she was 27, after offering to take her on a tour of the house.
- Autumn Burns, a former model and employee of Sahara Casino in Las Vegas, who was 20 when Cosby allegedly came to the casino, invited her up to his hotel suite on the pretense of discussing modeling opportunities, and drugged and sexually assaulted her.
The alleged victims’ stories share key similarities with those of the women who have previously come forward to accuse Cosby. In all cases, Cosby allegedly gave the victims a drink and then sexually assaulted them.
Allred said that she was publicizing the names of the latest accusers because Cosby has yet to formally acknowledge the claims against him. Instead, he has continued his “Far from Finished” comedy tour—even joking about the allegations—despite frequent protests. He also made an awkward promotional video for the tour that avoided any mention of the allegations.
Cosby, Allred said, has refused to “acknowledge and take responsibility for his conduct towards women.”
Cosby’s lawyer previously issued a statement dismissing the large number of claims as “increasingly ridiculous” because they were about incidents that allegedly happened decades ago. But while the statute of limitations prevents most of the claims from being pursued, one thing is clear: The ripple effects of last year’s wave of rape allegations against Cosby are themselves far from finished.
Photo via World Affairs Council of Philadelphia/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
