Another Bill Cosby rape accuser comes forward.
Another woman who claims she was raped by Bill Cosby has spoken out about her encounter with the embattled comedian.
The
accusation is just the latest of numerous allegations of sexual abuse
by Cosby, and follows the claims of another alleged victim who spoke out
earlier this week.
In an essay on Hollywood Elsewhere, music
industry publicist and journalist Joan Tarshis claims that Cosby
sexually assaulted her twice in 1969 when she was 19. The former actress
and Cosby were both working at Universal Studios, and she said he took
an interest in her.
Cosby often pushed alcohol on her, Tarshis
said, and on one instance when the two had been working on material
together, she fell unconscious at his bungalow after having a cocktail
he made for her.
"The next thing I remember was coming to on his
couch while being undressed," Tarshis wrote. "I thought I was being
clever when I told him I had an infection and he would catch it and his
wife would know he had sex with someone. But he just found another
orifice to use. I was sickened by what was happening to me and shocked
that this man I had idolized was now raping me. Of course I told no
one."
The second time Cosby allegedly attacked her, Tarvis claims
that she had been drinking with Cosby while attending a performance at a
music theater. She started to feel shaky, and "the next thing I
remember was waking up in his bed back at the Sherry, naked," Tarvis
wrote.
Tarshis was prompted to share her experiences after seeing
others go public with their allegations, saying "as more and more of his
rape victims have come forward, all telling similar stories, the time
is right to join them."
Cosby has been dogged by accusations of
sexual assault for years, and the controversy returned to the public eye
after comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby a rapist during one of his
routines. Following Buress' charge, one of Cosby's alleged victims,
Barbara Bowman, published an essay in The Washington Post, titled "Bill
Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my
story?"
When pressed by NPR's Scott Simon during Saturday's
"Weekend Edition" to address the allegations, Cosby refused to discuss
the matter. On Sunday, John P. Schmitt, Cosby's lawyer, said his client
would not respond to the claims against him.
"Over the last
several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby
have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make
them true," Schmitt said in a statement.
It was not clear if Schmitt's statement was also referring to the accusation made by Tarshis.
Cosby's
scheduled Nov. 19 appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman"
was canceled after the Washington Post essay was published. A
representative for CBS declined to comment when contacted by The
Huffington Post.
Cosby has never been charged with any of the alleged crimes. He settled a civil suit with another alleged victim in 2006.
The Huffington Post reached out to Cosby's representatives on Sunday, but did not receive a response. |
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