Bill Cosby strikes back against model Beverly Johnson, sues for defamation
Embattled comedian Bill Cosby has added model Beverly Johnson to the list of women he is taking to court for defamation.
The 78-year-old actor has filed counter lawsuits against his accusers for charging him with sexual assault. Cosby is now zeroing in on 63-year-old Johnson as one of his legal targets for claims that he drugged her.
In 2014, the model publicly shared her story in Vanity Fair. She said that Cosby invited her to his house for dinner and spiked her cappuccino as she auditioned to become part of “The Cosby Show.”
“I knew by the second sip of the drink Cosby had given me that I’d been drugged – and drugged good,” Johnson narrated. She said her head became woozy, her speech became slurred and she could feel the room beginning to spin nonstop. As she felt her body go completely limp, she repeatedly cursed Cosby for what he has done to her.
The model admitted that she did not clearly remember what happened next because the drug was already working full-time then. “I recall his seething anger at my tirade and then him grabbing me by my left arm hard and yanking all 110 pounds of me down a bunch of stairs,” she said.
After her story was published by the magazine, Johnson has also appeared on national television and talk shows to recount the incident.
Cosby, in his counter lawsuit, claimed that she is making false accusations in an attempt to become relevant again, according to the Perez Hilton site. He denied having dined alone with Johnson, contrary to her allegations, the court papers show. The actor further said that the only time he and Johnson ate together was when they were with his wife, Camille.
Last week, Cosby filed a countersuit for defamation against seven of his other accusers, namely Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie. Their sexual assault claims have tarnished his reputation, and negatively impacted plans for a new family comedy on NBC, Cosby said.
The women made “malicious, opportunistic, and false and defamatory accusations of sexual misconduct,” according to Cosby’s lawyer Monique Pressley as reported by CNN.
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