Bill Cosby is being sued for sexual assault by an actress and comedy writer who claims he raped her twice in the 1970s.
Joan Tarshis claims the Cosby Show star gave her drinks that made her “dizzy” and “pass out” before he attacked her.
She says she met the actor at the age of 19 through a mutual friend when he invited her to his studio for a private writing session.
But once she got back to his bungalow, the star handed her a drink that caused her to lose consciousness, according to her lawsuit obtained by TMZ.
Tarshis says she then woke up to Cosby undressing her and tried to fight him off before he orally raped her.
Bill Cosby is being sued again for sexual assault by an actress and comedy writer who claims she was raped twice in the 1970s.
Joan Tarshis says she was just 19 when she met Cosby, who allegedly handed her drinks that made her pass out before he attacked her
Tarshis said the first rape occurred after she was invited to a one-on-one writing session at the comic’s studio bungalow.
The second alleged incident occurred a year later after she reluctantly agreed to go to a music fair with him.
Once again, Tarshis claims she was handed a drink, which made her feel ‘weak’ and fainted.
When she woke up, she was naked and felt as if she had been raped again, her records show.
She is now seeking unspecified damages for assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.
Tarshis previously spoke about her encounters with Cosby in an awkward interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, in which the host suggested there are ways “not to perform oral sex.”
The interview appeared in 2014 after a series of similar allegations against Cosby.
The sitcom dad is accused of assaulting more than 60 women over the years, with some of his alleged victims claiming they were minors at the time.
The alleged crimes date back to the 1960s, meaning that for many the statute of limitations for criminal charges had expired.
The second alleged attack occurred after the two attended a music fair together. Tarshis claims she woke up naked and felt like she had been raped
The legal action comes eight years after the actress first went public with her allegations against Cosby and follows similar accusations from dozens of other women.
However, Cosby was initially convicted due to claims made by Andrea Constand, who alleged that the comic drugged and raped her at his Philadelphia home in 2004.
His first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict, but he was ultimately sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, despite the fact that the encounter was consensual.
But his conviction was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after just three years.
The 86-year-old has also faced a slew of civil lawsuits and has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands in damages to victims.
In December 2022, five women, including two actors who appeared on The Cosby Show, filed a lawsuit in New York accusing Cosby of sexually assaulting them.
The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which took effect on Thanksgiving and gives adult survivors of sexual assault a year to sue their abusers, even if the statute of limitations on their claims has expired.
The plaintiffs named the actor, Kaufman Astoria Studios Inc., The Carsey-Werner Company and NBCUniversal Media as defendants in the 34-page lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The Cosby Show, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1992, was filmed at studios now controlled by Kaufman Astoria and produced by Carsey-Werner, according to the civil suit.
Cosby was initially convicted of the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand, who claimed she was drugged and assaulted at the star’s Philadelphia home, but the conviction was later overturned.
Cosby has been sued in civil court by several other women and forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages
All defendants are “guilty and liable because they knew and/or should have known that Bill Cosby was sexually assaulting, assaulting and/or assaulting women, including on their premises, but did nothing to stop it,” the indictment says.
Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt dismissed the matter as “frivolous.”
“We believe that both the courts and the court of public opinion will follow the rules of law and clear Mr. Cosby of these alleged charges,” Wyatt said in a statement.
‘Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations against him and looks forward to defending himself in court.”
Other high-profile figures who claimed to have been attacked in a similar manner included supermodel Janice Dickinson and former Playboy bunny PJ Masten.
Meanwhile, Judy Huth was awarded $500,000 in damages last year by an LA court, which ruled that Cosby raped her at the Playboy mansion in 1975 when she was 16 years old.
Cosby’s accusers allege he hid behind his status as America’s Dad on the beloved sitcom that ran from 1974 to 1992.
He has always maintained his innocence, but admitted during his deposition that he obtained Quaaludes, a sedative, to have sex with women.
Since being released from prison in 2021, the comic has rarely been shown.
But he sparked outrage again after revealing plans for a comedy tour following his release, although confirmed dates have yet to materialise.
