Even as the never-ending string of rape allegations against Bill Cosby keep surfacing, the comedian has never cared to deny them and rather seems to acknowledge them. However, he has finally ended his silence by thanking comedian Whoopi Goldberg and singer Jill Scott for standing by him.
Both Goldberg and Scott have pointed out the lack of "rape kit evidence" to back up the rape allegations against "The Cosby Show" star.
Goldberg, in "The View" show co-hosted by her, had expressed doubts in the story related by one of Cosby's accusers, actress Barbara Bowman. "Don't you do a kit when you say someone has raped you? Isn't that the next step once you make an allegation?" She had also invited Bowman to come to the show and answer a few questions regarding the alleged rape.
Scott had defended Cosby on Twitter after feminist activist Shelby Knox asked her to sign a petition regarding Temple University's now-severed relationship with Cosby.
@ShelbyKnox oh ok. So they've proven the alleged allegations? I didn't know. Will they also be giving him back the millions he's donated?
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) November 24, 2014
In a recent tweet, Scott had mentioned, "Rape is a despicable, cowardly crime. If you've been raped- plz do NOT shower, go to police IMMEDIATELY, have a rap kit done. GET EVIDENCE."
"Thank you @WhoopiGoldberg," Cosby tweeted on 2 December and followed it with "Thank you @MissJillScott, from the Cosby Family," on 3 December.
Meanwhile, three new accusers, in a press conference led by attorney Gloria Allred, told their stories publicly for the first time on Wednesday, 3 December.
One of them, Beth Ferrier, was also a witness in the 2005 civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand against Cosby. Ferrier has alleged that she had an affair with the 77-year-old comedian in the 1980s, when she was an aspiring model and actress.
However, after she ended the affair, Cosby invited her to one of her stand-up shows and handed her a cappuccino backstage. She says that she remembers feeling dizzy and nauseous before blacking out and waking up several hours later, alone in her car, with her clothing and undergarments dishevelled.
"I believe Mr Cosby drugged me and sexually assaulted me that night," Washington Post reported Ferrier's statement from the news conference.
Another accuser, identified only as Chelan, said she had met "The Cosby Show" star while working at the Las Vegas Hilton, when she was 17 and an aspiring model. He had promised to introduce her to a model agency representative in his room. Once inside, he handed her a "blue pill" that immobilised her.
Chelan says she passed out as he was assaulting her on bed and woke up many hours later to Cosby's voice saying, "Daddy says wake up!"
The third accuser at the press conference, Helen Hayes, accuses Cosby of groping her at Clint Eastwood's celebrity tennis tournament in Pebble Beach in 1973.
"He approached me from behind [at a restaurant] and reached over my shoulder and grabbed my right breast," she said.
Besides the rape allegations, Cosby was also charged with sexual battery lawsuit by Judith Huth on 2 December, who claims that "The Cosby Show" star molested her in 1974 in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles when she was 15.
Though Cosby is yet to deny any of the allegations, he posted a joint statement with Andrea Constand on 17 November, which read, "differences between Mr Cosby and Ms Constand were resolved to the mutual satisfaction of Mr Cosby and Ms Constand years ago. Neither Mr Cosby nor Ms Constand intends to comment further on the matter."
