Lili Bernard, who appeared in a final season episode of 'The Bill Cosby Show', comes forward with her story alongside another accuser Sammie Mays in a press conference with Gloria Allred.
- May 2, 2015
AceShowbiz -
Two more women have gone public with their allegations against Bill Cosby. In a press conference held by Gloria Allred in New York on Friday, May 1, Lili Bernard and Sammie Mays shared their stories with reporters.
Lili, who guest starred in an episode of the final season of "The Bill Cosby Show", said she was drugged, raped and threatened by the comedian when he was mentoring her for the preparation for her appearance as "the zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield."
"Bill Cosby mentored me. He told me, 'You're one of my kids, Bernard.' He praised me...he lifted me up and I believed him. After all, he was Bill Cosby," Lili shared. "After he had won my complete trust and adoration, he drugged and raped me."
Lili said she was threatened by Bill when they met at his studio in 1992. The comedian allegedly told her, "As far as I'm concerned, Bernard, you're dead. Do you hear me? You're dead, Bernard. You don't exist, I never wanna see your face again. Now get the hell out of here!" Lili said she "interpreted that as a death threat and feared for my life."
Lili claimed to have been suicidal for months after Bill threatened her. She also still suffers panic attacks and night terrors "as a result of what Mr. Cosby did to me." She decided to come forward now "to show my 6-year-old daughter to stand in truth, and to say that I've survived Bill Cosby's drugging and raping me." She added, "I stand here to take back my power and to confront the fear that has paralyzed me for so many years."
Lili is looking to prosecute Bill. She and Gloria met police in Atlantic City for five hours on Thursday to give them "evidence," which she refused to explain further. Gloria said, "Unlike most other states, New Jersey has no statute of limitations for rape, which means that law enforcement is not prevented from prosecuting a case because of an arbitrary time period set by law...Women need to break out of their fear and report so that predators can be held accountable."
Sammie, meanwhile, said she met Bill in the 1980s when she was a writer covering the NATPE convention in New Orleans. When she asked him for a brief interview, Bill allegedly replied, "It's lunchtime, the convention center closes shortly. How about you walk with me over to the hotel and we'll talk along the way?"
When they arrived at his hotel, Bill offered her a drink. "I took a big swig and then I took another. The next thing I remember when I awoke, from my state of unconsciousness, I seemed to have been drooling, and was sloppily slouched in the chair with barely the edge of my bottom in it," Sammie recalled.
She looked up to see Bill standing over her and "felt something stabbing at my breasts." She shared, "My long sleeve button down shirt was unbuttoned and my underwire bra slid over to the side exposing my breasts. The out of place wire was digging into my chest. The chain belt which I wore tightly around my waist had been unhooked and rehooked."
Sammie told reporters, "I never wanted to see Bill Cosby again, or ever talk about him. That is until all these many years later I learned Bill Cosby preyed upon other women in somewhat the same manner."