Yet another woman has come forward with accusations against Bill Cosby, alleging that he lured her to New York City and Chicago in 1986 with promises of fame and fortune, offering her money, accommodations, and even a role on an episode of The Cosby Show, before drugging and raping her.
To add insult to injury, the woman’s part was cut from the Cosby Show episode when it aired.
In the complaint filed on Friday in New York, Stacey Pinkerton alleges she was approximately 21 years old and a flight attendant, model, and aspiring actress when she met Cosby in 1986 and he “used his power, influence, and authority, as producer of The Cosby Show, to groom and sexually assault” her.
According to Pinkerton, Cosby “promised…he could help her career by introducing her to people in New York,” and invited her to the city to be on an episode of The Cosby Show, telling her that “he would arrange everything and put her in contact with people she should know to advance her career.”
The complaint spells out how Cosby allegedly appeared to fulfill those promises at first, handing the arrangements for her NYC trip, bringing her to the show’s studio, arranging her accommodations, giving her money for incidentals, and arranging a business dinner to discuss her career. Pinkerton claims he offered to help her get into college to finish her education and that she gave him her headshots.
The small role she filmed was for a Season 2 episode, but when it aired, her part did not appear in the final edit, Pinkerton alleges.
The complaint repeatedly describes Cosby’s actions as a “pretense” and how he “manipulated [her] into believing that he was trying to help her career.
Pinkerton alleges that the assault happened when he invited her on a second trip to come meet him in Chicago in March 1986, again with promises to help her get modeling and acting gigs. She accuses Cosby of drugging her dinner “without her knowledge or consent,” forcing her into a car without telling her where she was being taken, and taking her to the Drake Hotel.
There, Pinkerton alleges, she “tried to leave the hotel room but Cosby prevented her from leaving, including by locking the door,” and he “engaged in forced sexual intercourse” with her while she “was incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless.” She “escaped hours later while Cosby was asleep,” the complaint adds.
In April 1986, Pinkerton claims that she got a letter from a comedy club in Chicago notifying her that Cosby had arranged for a complimentary membership for her, and Cosby’s assistant called her to say that he “requested her attendance” at his upcoming show.
She went to the show “with the intention to confront Cosby about the assault,” Pinkerton alleges, but after the show, “Cosby approached [her] and forcefully kissed her and touched her buttocks without her consent” and she “started yelling and was removed from the theatre by production staff.”
In addition to Cosby, the lawsuit also names as defendants Kaufman Astoria Studios, Casey-Werner Company, and NBC for their roles in Cosby’s hit sitcom, alleging they “facilitated, enabled, approved, and ratified Cosby’s sexual assaults of women,” by providing the facilities he allegedly used to access and sexually assault women, provided assistants and other staff who assisted Cosby “in facilitating and covering up his sexual assaults,” and otherwise worked to conceal his assaults on women.
The lawsuit also mentions the more than 60 women who have accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them over the decades, and his admission in a deposition for a 2005 civil lawsuit that he used quaaludes on young women with whom he wanted to have sex, accusing the comedian of engaging in a known modus operandi that was condoned and enabled by the show:
Cosby engaged in the same or similar pattern of conduct with his victims, including expressing interest in advancing their careers, giving them roles on The Cosby Show, using The Cosby Show and its filming locations as a means to access, isolate, sexually harass, and sexually assault women, using drugs to incapacitate his victims, and forcibly engaging in sexual acts with them without their consent.
Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018 and sentenced to three to ten years in prison, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction, agreeing with defense counsel’s arguments that his rights had been violated because the prosecutor reneged on a non-prosecution agreement related to that 2005 civil case.
Pinkerton’s complaint was brought under the New York Adult Survivors Act (ASA), a law that took effect in November and created a one-year window for adult sexual abuse survivors to file civil claims against their alleged abusers and other responsible parties (like the Cosby Show-related companies here), even when the statute of limitations had already expired. The law was signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in May and mirrors a similar 2019 law that provided a new statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse.
The specific counts of the complaint include a claim of sexual battery against Cosby and negligence, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, and negligent retention against Kaufman Astoria, Casey-Werner, and NBC. Pinkerton is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages and requests a trial by jury.
Cosby “vehemently” denied the allegations through a statement his representative Andrew Wyatt provided to TMZ, which accused Pinkerton of joining Gloria Allred’s “entourage of alleged accusers” for monetary gain:
Unwilling to accept that Actor & Comedian Bill Cosby was vindicated by the PA State Supreme Court almost a year and a half ago, Ms. Pinkerton has decided to join Ms. Allred’s entourage of alleged accusers. As we have always stated, and now America can see, this isn’t about justice for victims of alleged sexual assault, it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY. We believe that the courts, as well as the court of public opinion, will follow the rules of law and relieve Mr. Cosby of these alleged accusations. Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations waged against him and looks forward to defending himself in court.
Representatives for Kaufman Astoria, Casey-Werner, and NBC did not reply to multiple media outlets’ requests for comment on Friday.
Pinkerton is not the first to sue Cosby under the ASA’s revived statute of limitations. Five other women — including two actresses from The Cosby Show — sued earlier this month alleging that the 85-year-old had committed various acts of assault on them, ranging from allegedly groping them without their consent to drugging and raping several of the female plaintiffs.
Meanwhile, the disgraced comedian is reportedly plotting his return to the stage in 2023, saying during a radio interview that “there’s so much fun to be had in this storytelling that I do.” Wyatt, Cosby’s rep, confirmed to Variety he was “looking at spring/summer to start touring.”
[Image via Mark Makela/Getty Images]
