A former Mrs. America, a waitress and a Playboy model hopeful held a press conference a day before the actor was due to appear in court.
- Oct 1, 2015
AceShowbiz - Women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault and drugging grew in numbers. Three more came to public at a press conference held Wednesday, September 30 morning with allegations against the disgraced comedian.
Attorney Gloria Allred introduced Sharon Van Ert, Pamela Abeyta and Lisa Christie at her Los Angeles office just a week before Cosby was due to attend a deposition in a separate sexual assault lawsuit. The women were in tears as they told their stories.
Christie was a former Mrs. America who met Cosby when she was only 18 years old. The young model appeared as an extra on "The Bill Cosby Show" and took a course at Buffalo State College for theater and dance to pursue a career in acting. "He waited almost two years before he tried anything on me because he knew that I was a virgin and raised as a Christian," Christie said.
Christie recalled the time she was asked to meet him at a Chicago hotel and "he tried to kiss me like a boyfriend would." He insisted on her drinking first before starting an exercise and later yelled at her, "You're never going to make it in this business unless you sleep with me!" Christie said she left the hotel and never met him again.
Meanwhile, Van Ert said she met Cosby in 1976 while working as a waitress at the Concerts By The Sea jazz club on the Redondo Beach Pier. Cosby insisted on walking her to her car and got into the vehicle with her. She only remembered waking up alone and missing her panties. She told the club's owners but did not get a response.
The third accuser Abeyta was introduced by a friend to Cosby, thinking he could help her become a Playboy model. She was summoned to his Las Vegas hotel and given her own bedroom. She believed she was drugged when attending a show with Cosby and his friends because she did not remember leaving the place. "When I came to, I was lying in Bill Cosby's bed, not my own room," she said.
These three women brought the number of Cosby's accusers to almost 50. "One is too many," Allred told reporters. "Two is too many, and when we get up into numbers of 50, this is completely unprecedented. I've never seen something like this in all my years, which is coming on 40 years." Cosby and his lawyers continued to deny any of the allegations.
