Bill Cosby has postponed another show on his “Far From Finished” tour amid numerous sexual assault allegations and a civil suit filed by a woman who claims the embattled comedian raped her when she was 15 years old.
Cosby has never been charged with a crime and has denied the accusations made against him by over a dozen women who have recounted alleged assaults spanning several decades. Still, uproar over the controversy has led to the scrapping of a planned NBC sitcom, the end of “Cosby Show” reruns on TV Land, the cutting of ties between Cosby and his alma maters, and the cancellation or postponement of several performances, the latest of which was scheduled to occur in Tarrytown, N.Y.
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Cosby and the Tarrytown Music Hall venue offered full refunds to ticket buyers, and according to the Journal News, as many as half of the tickets were returned prior to Dec. 6, when Cosby planned to make his first appearance. On Wednesday afternoon, ticket holders received an email saying “Bill Cosby, in consultation with the promoter, has agreed to postpone the performances to a later date. As a ticket holder, you will receive a full refund.”
This postponement comes on the heels of a new civil lawsuit filed Tuesday against Cosby. Judy Huth, 55, sued the comedian in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that he molested her in a bedroom at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when Huth was just 15.
According to the complaint, Huth and a friend met Cosby at an outdoor film set at Lacy Park 40 years ago and accepted an invitation to join him at a tennis club the following week. When they got together, the lawsuit alleges, they played billiards and Cosby served them alcohol.
“Under the terms of Cosby’s game, plaintiff was required to consume a beer every time Cosby won a game,” the suit alleges. After the two girls consumed “multiple alcoholic beverages,” Cosby allegedly told them he had a surprise for them “and led them to another house which turned out to be the Playboy Mansion.” Cosby told the girls they should say they were 19 if they were asked, according to the lawsuit.
Huth alleges that Cosby, who would have been around 37 at the time, took her into a bedroom and started to “sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent.” Huth’s lawsuit says the alleged encounter left her psychologically and emotionally scarred.
The lawsuit is the first legal action taken against Cosby relating to alleged sexual assaults since he settled out of court with an accuser in 2006. Cosby’s alleged history of sexual abuse had largely gone unreported until a fellow comedian, Hannibal Buress, joked about it in his stand-up act and the remarks went viral last month.
On Wednesday, attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference in Los Angeles featuring three new Cosby accusers. Each women recalled what has become an eerily similar scenario. They claim the legendary comedian drugged and sexually assaulted them on different occasions, all when they were underage, several decades ago. One woman, who identified herself only as “Chelan” described blacking out after allegedly being given a blue pill by Cosby.
“13 to 16 hours later I woke up by hearing Mr. Cosby clapping his hands and saying, ‘Daddy says wake up.’ He gave me $1,500,” she said.
Allred argued that Cosby should agree to waive statutes of limitation and face his accusers in court. “If Mr. Cosby believes all the women are being untruthful, then this is his opportunity to prove it,” Allred said, according the Hollywood Reporter. In the meantime, she proposed that the multi-millionaire provide funds to the tune of $100 million to all of his accusers.
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Cosby has refused to speak publicly about the allegations. His attorney Marty Singer told NBC News, “The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40 or ever 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity.”
The 77-year-old comedian has maintained some high-profile defenders. Actress Whoopi Goldberg and R&B star Jill Scott have both passionately argued on his behalf, both on the airwaves and in social media. Cosby thanked both women via his Twitter account on Wednesday.
Thank you @MissJillScott, from the Cosby Family.
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) December 3, 2014.
Thank you @WhoopiGoldberg.
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) December 3, 2014
Adam Howard