Bill Cosby appeared in court on charges of sexual misconduct on Wednesday, for allegedly drugging and violating Andrea Constand in 2004. She is one of dozens of women to have put her name to accusations of sexual abuse, harassment and attempted abuse against Bill Cosby. The comedian and his lawyers have long denied the allegations, renewed interest in which have led to the cancellation of his standup tour and of his planned NBC sitcom, as well to a host of universities, Disney World and other institution withdrawing honours and distancing themselves.
These are the 57 women and the dates their accusations became public:
2 March 2000
Lachele Covington, a 20-year-old actor, filed a police report accusing Cosby of touching her inappropriately after a dinner at his house, according to the New York Post. The district attorney’s office decided that no crime had been committed.
13 January 2005
Andrea Constand, a former college athlete, went to the police to report an incident involving Cosby, saying that the comedian had drugged and assaulted her. After the district attorney decided that he thought he did not have enough evidence to convict, Constand filed a civil suit against the comedian, which was settled out of court in 2006. A reported 13 unnamed “Jane Doe” witnesses, as well as one named witness – Tamara Green – did not get the opportunity to testify in court. The case was reopened in the summer of 2015 and Cosby was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault in December 2015, which has opened the door for dozens of other women to testify against Cosby in a courtroom setting.
10 February 2005
Tamara Green, a lawyer in California, was the only witness to prior sexual assaults in the Constand civil suit to allow herself to be named. In February 2005, she spoke to NBC’s Matt Lauer on the Today show, saying that in the 1970s Cosby drugged her with what she was told was cough medicine, then took her to her apartment and groped her. She told the Guardian “he was like a spider, sitting there waiting”.
23 June 2005
Beth Ferrier, one of the anonymous “Jane Doe” witnesses in the Constand suit, came forward to the Philadelphia Daily News while the suit was still ongoing, about an alleged incident in which Cosby drugged her in Colorado in the 1980s.
18 December 2006
Barbara Bowman, an aspiring actor who was 17 when Cosby first met her, was another of the “Jane Doe” witnesses in the Constand suit, but came forward to People magazine, saying that Cosby drugged and abused her on multiple occasions.
17 November 2014
Joan Tarshish spoke out in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, accusing Cosby of drugging her and sexually abusing her on two occasions. She told Lemon that in 1969, when she was 19, Cosby made her a drink. “Shortly after that I passed out,” she said. “I woke up … with him removing my underwear.”
17 November 2014
Linda Joy Traitz posted on Facebook that in the 1970s, when she was 19 and working at a restaurant, Cosby drove her to the beach and offered her pills from “a briefcase filled with assorted drugs”, and then became “sexually aggressive” with her. “He offered me pills and said it would help me to relax, and I kept refusing but he kept offering,” she told the Washington Post.
18 November 2014
Janice Dickinson, a supermodel and TV star, told Entertainment Tonight that Cosby had allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted her in Lake Tahoe in 1982. She would later told the Guardian, “They can fling all they want. I did not consent to being raped.”
19 November 2014
Therese Serignese came forward to WBTV in West Palm Beach, Florida, saying that Cosby drugged and then had sex with her after a party in the 1970s, when she was 19. She was another “Jane Doe” witness in the Constand case.
20 November 2014
Renita Chaney Hill told a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh that she had met Cosby in the 1980s, when she was 15, and an aspiring model and actor. She said that Cosby flew her to “a number of cities” around the country, where she would be summoned to his hotel room at night. Once there, she said, he would insist that she have a drink, which she said she believes was drugged.
20 November 2014
Carla Ferrigno, a former Playboy bunny and the wife of Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno, accused Cosby of grabbing her roughly at his home in Hollywood in 1967. Her accusation appeared in the Daily Mail.
20 November 2014
Louisa Moritz, an actor who starred in the 1970s TV show Love American Style, also came forward on 20 November. She told TMZ that Cosby attempted to force her to give him oral sex in the green room before an appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in 1971.
21 November 2014
Angela Leslie, a model and actor from Warren, Michigan, alleged in an interview with the New York Daily News that in 1992 he summoned her to his hotel room in Las Vegas, claiming it was for an audition, poured her a drink and demanded she act drunk. She said she came out of the bathroom to find him naked on a bed, and said she now suspects the drink was drugged.
21 November 2014
Kristina Ruehli told Philadelphia Magazine that she met Cosby in 1965, when she was working as a secretary at a talent agency. She said that he invited her to his house, where he drugged her and tried to force her into oral sex. Like Serignese, Bowman and Ferrier, Ruehli was a “Jane Doe” witness in the Constand case.
22 November 2014
Victoria Valentino, a former Playboy bunny, told the Washington Post that Cosby drugged her after dinner in Los Angeles, along with another actor, Meg Foster. She said that he drove the two of them to his apartment, where he forced her to perform oral sex on him.
22 November 2014
Joyce Emmons, a comedy club operator, told TMZ that in the 1970s Cosby gave her a white pill for a migraine, and that she later woke up in bed with a friend of his. She said that Cosby told her later the pill was a quaalude, a recreational sedative-hypnotic popular at the time.
23 November 2014
Sarita Butterfield, a former Playboy Bunny, said she went to a Christmas Eve dinner with Cosby’s family in 1977 after she appeared in the magazine’s November issue. She told the New York Daily News that Cosby cornered her and attempted to kiss and grope her breasts her during the dinner.
24 November 2014
Jewel Allison, a former model, alleged in an interview with the New York Daily News that Cosby gave her a drugged glass of wine and forced her to put her hands on his genitals.
25 November 2014
Jennifer Kaya Thompson, formerly known as “Jena T”, a former aspiring model, said she had a series of encounters with Cosby in the 1980s. He convinced her parents that she should move to New York City to pursue her dream of modeling, but became uncomfortable with his insistence that they spend so much time together. She said she was pressured into a sex act, but never brought her own civil complaint. She spoke with attorneys in 2005 and 2006 to support Constand’s allegations.
26 November 2014
Shawn Brown, a retired sales executive, told the Daily Mail that she had had an affair with Cosby in 1973, which Cosby admitted to in a 1997 interview with Dan Rather. She said that one night, after Cosby convinced her to drink alcohol, which she didn’t normally do, they shared a marijuana joint. She said she woke up not remembering what had happened the night before, but she knew they had had sex. She said that her daughter, Autumn Jackson, is the product of the alleged rape. She estimates Cosby paid her a total of $250,000 in gifts and money after their relationship ended. Her daughter was jailed in 1998 for trying to extort Cosby.
1 December 2014
Lisa Jones, a former model from Canada, said she was flown to an audition in New York after Cosby contacted Ford modelling agency. He had met her and her mother in New York and they felt they could trust him. But the audition was in his home and she said he compelled her to drink alcohol with him. She said he was “intense”, describing how women had to sleep around to get jobs in Hollywood. She alleges that he became aggressive and tried to pull her legs apart. Jones said she fled his home and did not feel comfortable going to police in a foreign country, against someone that famous and successful.
3 December 2014
Chelan Lasha, a former dietitian and model, said she met Cosby in 1986 while working at the front desk of a Las Vegas hotel. She was 17 at the time, and Cosby allegedly invited her to his room. She said she had a cold, and that Cosby offered her pills he said were antihistamines and suggested a shot of amaretto. She alleged that Cosby assaulted her after she passed out.
3 December 2014
Helen Hayes, a former legal secretary, said she met Cosby while attending a tennis tournament in 1973, in Pebble Beach, California. She said she and a friend were pursued by Cosby throughout the day, until he finally reached over her shoulder and grabbed her breast.
5 December 2014
PJ Masten, a former Playboy Bunny, told CNN she met Cosby while working at the Playboy mansion in 1972. She said Cosby invited her out to lunch in Chicago one day, and then dinner. Before dinner, Cosby offered her a cocktail in his hotel room. She said she blacked out, and awoke with “bruise marks all over me”. Though she couldn’t recall the details, she said, “I knew I was raped.”
6 December 2014
Judy Huth, a California native, alleges that she was just 15 years old when Cosby molested her in the Playboy mansion. Huth is currently suing Cosby in California, where her claim as an “adult survivor of child abuse” has been allowed to proceed. Cosby was deposed in Huth’s case in October 2015, the transcript of which has not been made public. The Los Angeles police department is also investigating the allegations, and told the Guardian that the case is, “an ongoing and open investigation”.
11 December 2014
Beverly Johnson, an actor and supermodel, wrote a long piece for Vanity Fair in which she said that Cosby drugged her after a dinner in the mid-1980s, having invited her to read for a part on the Cosby Show. She said that her body went into “automatic survival mode” after he came over and put his hands around her waist and that she started yelling at Cosby, calling him a “motherfucker”. She said that she did not go public with the story at the time because she was worried that her career would suffer.
19 December 2014
Lisa, who did not publicly disclose her last name, said that she knew Cosby had behaved strangely with her in a “mentoring session”, but did not think she had been sexually assaulted until Janice Dickinson made claims against Cosby. Lisa told Dr Phil that Cosby invited her to his hotel room for the session and gave her a drugged drink. She said she woke up two days later and had no memory of what happened to her. “For me, I just found out a month ago, what he did to me, so how can I report 23, 24 years ago?” Lisa said.
22 December 2014
Kathy McKee, a former Las Vegas showgirl, said that she had known Cosby for eight years through Sammy Davis Jr, when she was assaulted in the early 1970s. She told the New York Daily News that she met Cosby at his hotel room, where he opened the door wearing a cap and a bathrobe. He allegedly spun her around, pulled her underwear down and penetrated her.
7 January 2015
Linda Kirkpatrick, a former administrative assistant, said Cosby gave her tickets to his show after she and her partner beat Cosby in a tennis tournament in 1981. Cosby invited her back to his dressing room after the show and handed her a drink. She said she blacked out, and alleged that Cosby was on top of her kissing her when she woke up.
7 January 2015
Rebecca Lynn Neal, a former health club therapist, said Cosby was a regular client in 1986 when he invited her to his show. She alleged that Cosby offered her drinks, and she became “disoriented and confused” She alleged Cosby then led her to his dressing room, where he raped her.
7 January 2015
Kacey, who declined to make her last name public, said she regularly worked with Cosby in her former role as an employee at William Morris talent agency. In 1996, she said she was invited to Cosby’s hotel room in Bel Air to discuss her career, when he allegedly insisted she take a “large white pill” to help her relax. She said when she woke up, Cosby was in bed next to her, naked under a bathrobe.
15 January 2015
Chloe Goins, a model, is one of the few alleged victims whose case could fall within the statute of limitations. The 24-year-old said that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2008 at a Playboy mansion party. She filed a lawsuit against Cosby and the Los Angeles police department reportedly turned their investigation over to the district attorney’s office earlier this year.
26 January 2015
Cindra Ladd, a former entertainment executive, alleged she had a headache one evening in 1969 when she and Cosby were meant to go see a movie. He gave her a capsule to help, but skirted telling Ladd what the capsule was. “Don’t you trust me?” he allegedly asked her. In a Huffington Post op-ed, Ladd alleged she woke up the next morning naked, with Cosby nearby in a terrycloth robe. She said she knew, “he had had sex with me”.
8 February 2015
Helen Gumpel, a former actor and model, said she had a small role on the Cosby Show in 1987, when she was invited back to the set. Gumpel said when she returned, she was directed to Cosby’s dressing room, where he gave her a drink and stood in front of her with his crotch in her face.
12 February 2015
Linda Brown, a former model, said she met Cosby in 1969 in Canada. She said she went to his hotel suite, where he gave her a soft drink that made her black out. She alleged that when she woke up, she was naked and incapacitated next to Cosby, who sexually assaulted her.
12 February 2015
Lise-Lotte Lublin, a former model, said she was assaulted by Cosby in 1989 when she went to his hotel suite to have her acting evaluated. She said he served her two rounds of shots, which caused her to black out. She alleged that Cosby embraced her shortly thereafter, and said her memory of the incident is hazy.
24 February 2015
Heidi Thomas, a music teacher, said she met Cosby in 1984, when she was a model based in Denver, Colorado. She said her agent introduced her to Cosby, who wanted to evaluate her acting in Reno, Nevada. Cosby allegedly asked her to cold read the part of a drunk person, and gave her a glass of white wine. Thomas said the drink made her “foggy” and when she woke up, she alleges Cosby was trying to force her to perform oral sex.
27 March 2015
Margie Shapiro said she met Cosby while working at a donut shop in Santa Monica, California. He drove her to his residence and the Playboy mansion, she said. At the mansion, she said she lost a bet with Cosby and took a pill. She woke up to him sexually assaulting her, she said. She spoke publicly for the first time at a press conference organized by Gloria Allred.
27 March 2015
Sunni Welles said she was a 17-year-old aspiring singer when Cosby assaulted her. Shapiro said Cosby was considered a family friend and her mother allowed her to go to a jazz club with him. She said things got “blurry” after she drank a Coke at the club and she does not know what happened afterward, but was sure the next morning that she had been assaulted. Welles went public with the accusation alongside Margie Shapiro at a press conference.
23 April 2015
Marcella Tate, a former model, met Cosby in 1975 in Chicago. She said he asked her to bring him to the Playboy Mansion, where he gave her a drink that left her feeling drugged. She later alleged in New York Magazine that the next thing she remembered was waking up naked next to Cosby.
23 April 2015
Janice Baker Kinney, a former employee at Harrah’s casino in Reno, Nevada, said she met Cosby in 1982, and went to where he was staying with a friend. Once there, she alleges that Cosby gave her pills. She said she later woke up naked with the comedian.
23 April 2015
Autumn Burns alleged that she met Cosby in a Las Vegas casino where she worked when she was 20 years old in 1970. She said she went back to his hotel room, where he gave her a drink which made her feel “woozy and not in control”. She alleged the comedian then forced her to perform sex acts.
1 May 2015
Lili Bernard, a former actor on the Cosby Show, said Cosby was her mentor while she appeared on the show in the early 1990s. She said after he won her “complete trust” that “he drugged and raped me”. Bernard later said that Cosby told her she was “dead” to him.
1 May 2015
Sammie Mays, a writer, said she met Cosby at a television conference in 1987. She said she approached Cosby for an interview, and he asked her back to his hotel room for lunch. She said once there, he offered her a drink, which caused her to black out. She said when she awoke she was drooling, and her clothes were askew.
26 July 2015
Patricia Leary Steuer, a former development specialist, alleged in New York Magazine that she was assaulted by Cosby in 1978 and then again around 1980 after he gave her a drugged drink, and then two large pills with a glass of champagne. She was a Jane Doe in the 2005 lawsuit brought by Andrea Constand, but revealed her name in the magazine’s July cover story.
12 August 2015
Linda Ridgeway Whitedeer, an actor, said she met Cosby through the William Morris talent agency in approximately 1971. She said while she was meeting with Cosby in an office, he allegedly grabbed her hair, pushed her down and forced her to perform oral sex.
12 August 2015
Colleen Hughes, a former airline stewardess, said she met Cosby in the 1970s on a flight to Los Angeles when he invited her to lunch. She said drinking a glass of wine is the last thing she remembers before waking up hours later, after Cosby allegedly assaulted her.
12 August 2015
Eden Tirl, a former model who acted in one episode of the Cosby Show, said that Cosby came on to her after a taping of the show. She accused him of making her turn around and then wrapping her in his arms. Tirl said he whispered things in her ear like: “See, that’s all we were going to do, make love,” before she left the room.
20 August 2015
Elizabeth, a woman who declined to give her last name publicly, said she was an American Airlines attendant in 1976 when she met Cosby on a flight to Los Angeles. She said that Cosby took her to dinner the following night, where she was given a drink that made her “light-headed”. She alleged that Cosby then assaulted her in his hotel room.
20 August 2015
Charlotte Fox, a former actor, said she met Cosby in the 1970s when she was an extra on the show Uptown Saturday Night. She went to the Playboy mansion with Cosby, where she said they ate and drank before she became ill. Fox alleged she “was incapacitated”, when Cosby assaulted her.
30 September 2015
Sharon Von Ert, a former waitress, said she met Cosby in 1976 when she worked at Concerts by the Sea, a jazz club in Redondo Beach, California. She said Cosby often came to the club, and one evening escorted her to her car. He allegedly told her she was too drunk to drive, and she said she felt “unusually dizzy”. When she awoke, she was alone on her car, her head hanging off the seat and having vomited. She said her underwear was missing, and that she believes Cosby assaulted her.
30 September 2015
Pamela Abeyta, a former aspiring Playboy model, said she met Cosby in 1979 after his producer arranged a meeting. Abeyta said she was flown to Las Vegas to meet Cosby, where she was invited to stay in his penthouse. The following evening she watched his dinner show, but said “everything became a blur” toward the end. Abeyta said she later remembered waking up naked in the night in Cosby’s bed, but was back in her own by morning.
23 October 2015
Donna Barrett said she was officiating a track meet at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004 when Cosby assaulted her. She said he grabbed her from behind and forced his “private parts” on her. She said he called out “Hey, back that thing up here girl, back it on up” during the assault. She said she alerted officials about the incident “but no one knew what to do”.
23 October 2015
“Dottye” said Cosby raped her during a private audition for the Cosby Show at his New York City residence in 1984. She said he pressured her to have a drink then spun her around until she became sick. She said she does not remember much about what happened afterward but remembers him raping her. She said he called her for phone sex the next day.
10 November 2015
Kristina Ruehli said she was working as a secretary at a Los Angeles talent agency when Cosby raped her in 1965. Ruehli, who was named Donna Czapla at the time, said Cosby gave her two drinks and then she passed out, before waking up naked in his bed. After she made the accusations in a Philadelphia magazine in November 2014, Cosby’s lawyer accused her of making “false and defamatory statements”. She filed suit against Cosby in November 2015 for falsely accusing her of lying.
26 November 2015
Donna Motsinger said she is one of the Jane Does named in the 2005 case. Motsinger said she was working as a waitress in a northern California restaurant when she met Cosby. He invited her to see him perform and they drank in the limo on the way, she said. “Next thing I know, I wake up in the limo with his hands on me. I wake up in my own bed the next morning, all my clothes off, except for my underwear, and I know I have been sexually assaulted,” said Motsinger.