American Actor Bill Cosby
IN PHOTO: A new lawsuit has been filed against Bill Cosby. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Although the latest stage performance of comedian Bill Cosby ended in a standing ovation, the string of sexual abuse allegations is still affecting his work and public image badly. Various performances scheduled in the coming months in Oklahoma, Nevada, Illinois, Arizona, South Carolina and Washington State have been cancelled abruptly without any proper clarifications.

Despite the non-confrontational tactic used by the actor and consistent vehement denial of such allegation by his lawyers, projects at NBC and Netflix have been cancelled. Also, TV Land decided not to air reruns of 'The Cosby Show' after witnessing such uproar, claims Yahoo.

Cosby's image got tarnished first when a woman, Andrea Constand, filed a civil lawsuit against him in 2006 along with nine co-victims documented in court proceedings as 'Jane Does'. All the victims have strikingly similar stories of being drugged and then abused by the actor.

However, the case was settled outside court before any of the witnesses could even testify. People Magazine claimed that despite the extreme and serious allegations, these women were not the perfect witnesses since the incidents of assault had happened a couple of decades ago. None of the women ever approached the police with their stories neither at the time of the assault nor at any time in the intervening years between the incidents and the emergence of Constand's lawsuit, as told by US news.

People Magazine also pointed out that these women could not gain anything monetary from such allegations as the statute of limitations on all their charges have expired. Recently, two more women have come out in the open with their stories concerning the same pattern of sexual assault.

One of the two women, Kristina Ruehli, 75, was also one of the 'Jane Does' who agreed to testify against the famed actor before. She has once again detailed her story about the sexual assault and abuse with CBS news. Another woman, Renita Chaney Hill, told the same source that the recent uproar in social media and Cosby's attorneys' repeated criticism on the women accusing the actor prompted her to make her story public.

Cosby has remained mum on this subject and has not made any statements yet. The only published comment about these allegations by the comedian was given to the National Enquirer, "I am not going to give in to people who try to exploit me because of my celebrity status". This comment is dated back to 2005 when Constand's during case proceedings.

The year 2014 again witnessed the decade-old allegations when the stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress made a "you rape women, Bill Cosby" punch line in one of his acts recently. This episode was followed by an essay by one of the 'Jane Does', Barbara Bowman, who detailed her turmoil. The story was published by the Washington Post and subsequently triggered public outcry.

In retaliation, Cosby's lawyer has issued a blanket statement declaring the allegations as "decade-old, discredited" stating that "the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."