Multiple News Reports, Cosby, May 2015

Entertainment Tonight, Friday, May 15, 2015: Lili Bernard and Gloria Allred criticize Bill Cosby’s involvement with youth organizations in Selma Alabama which welcome him.

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Nightline, ABC News, Exclusive: Bill Cosby Breaks Silence About Sexual Assault Allegations, Full Interview, May 15, 2015: Lili Bernard mentioned at 4:33 mark

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Lili Bernard complete statements made at NYC and Atlanta press conferences:

Lili Bernard Gloria Allred NYC 1 May 2015 Cobb, Atlanta, GA Press Conference Statement, May 2, 2015, Entire Text and Photos

Lili Bernard Gloria Allred NYC 1 May 2015 NYC, NY Press Conference Statement, May 1, 2015, Entire Text and Photos

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AJC.com Atlanta Journal Constitution – May 2, 2015

Bill Cosby’s Accuser [Lili Bernard] and Gloria Allred Speak Out – Complete Statements

Branden Camp

Lili Bernard, center left, and her lawyer Gloria Allred, center right, speak to the media outside of Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre before Bill Cosby’s performance, Saturday, May 2, 2015, in Atlanta, Ga. A group of protesters gathered to speak out against Cosby’s performance after allegations that he sexually assaulted several women throughout his career. (SPECIAL/BRANDEN CAMP)

AJC Branden Camp

Judy Thompson, left, Kaya Thompson, center, and Lili Bernard, right, stand together during a protest against Bill Cosby’s performance at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre for Bill Cosby’s performance, Saturday, May 2, 2015, in Atlanta, Ga. Kaya Thompson and Bernard both say Cosby sexually assaulted them. (SPECIAL/BRANDEN CAMP)

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Getty Getty Images, May 2, 2015

GloriaLili1

Lili Bernard and Gloria Allred gather with protestors outside of Bill Cosby’s ‘Far from Finished’ Tour at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center on May 2, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.

GloriaLili2

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NY Daily News 1 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS 30 April 2015

Former ‘The Cosby Show’ guest star looks to prosecute Bill Cosby on alleged drug, rape charges in New Jersey

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, May 1, 2015, 5:28 PM
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Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News

Attorney Gloria Allred (center) with former “The Cosby Show” guest star Lili Bernard (left) and writer Sammie Mays (right). Bernard and Mays are also accusing actor Bill Cosby of allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting them.

A former guest star on “The Cosby Show” is looking to have Bill Cosby prosecuted in New Jersey for allegedly drugging and raping her back in 1992.

The Garden State has no statute of limitations on rape cases – which means prosecutors could pursue the case, said Lili Bernard’s lawyer, Gloria Allred.

Allred said she and Bernard met with police in Atlantic City for five hours on Thursday, and gave them “evidence.” She refused to elaborate.

Bernard played the “zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield” on the classic show in the early 1990s.

“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,” Bernard told reporters at a press conference on Friday.

“After he had won my complete trust and adoration, he drugged and raped me.”

She said Cosby had threatened her to keep silent, but that she’s coming 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 said, tears running down her cheeks.

“I stand here to take back my power and to confront the fear that has paralyzed me for so many years.”

Cosby has been accused by dozens of women over the past year of rape, but most of the alleged attacks were too old for police to prosecute.

Cosby’s reps have denied the allegations.

Bernard said Cosby’s old family man image couldn’t be further from real life, and that he’d repeatedly attacked.

Bernard played the “zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield” on the classic show in the early 1990s.
NBC

Bernard played the “zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield” on the classic show in the early 1990s.

“The last contact I had with Bill Cosby was at The Cosby Show studios on my birthday in 1992. His last words to me were, ‘As far as I’m concerned, Bernard, you’re dead. Do you hear me? You’re dead, Bernard. You don’t exist,’” she said loudly, sobbing as she spoke.

She said the abuse left her “highly suicidal.”

“I sought help and was hospitalized. When I was discharged from the hospital in the summer of 1992, I was assigned to a trauma therapist who counseled me intensively, initially five days a week. The focus of my therapy was what Bill Cosby did to me,” the married mother of six said.

“I still suffer panic attacks and night terrors as a result of what Mr. Cosby did to me.”

Allred said that “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.”

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Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News

Bernard said Cosby had threatened her to keep silent, but that she’s coming 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 said, tears running down her cheeks.

A rep for the Atlantic City Police Department did not immediately return a call for comment.

Also at the press conference was a writer named Sammie Mays, who said Cosby drugged her at a television convention in the 1980s.

“He said hello and engaged me in small talk. I was thrilled he had stopped me,” Mays said.

She asked Cosby if she could interview him.

“Mr. Cosby responded, ‘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?'”

Cosby has been accused by dozens of women over the past year of rape, but most of the alleged attacks were too old for police to prosecute.
Barry Gutierrez/REUTERS

Cosby has been accused by dozens of women over the past year of rape, but most of the alleged attacks were too old for police to prosecute.

Once at his hotel, she said he 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,” she recalled.

She looked up to see Cosby standing over her, and “felt something stabbing at my breasts.”

“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,” she said.

“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.”

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Former “Cosby Show” Guest Star Accuses Bill Cosby Of Rape

Lili Bernard alleges she was drugged and raped by Cosby while she was guest-starring on the eighth and final season of The Cosby Show. Sammie Mays, a writer, also came forward at the news conference with allegations against Cosby.

posted on May. 1, 2015, at 1:02 p.m.

Emily Orley Emily Orley BuzzFeed News Reporter

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LilI Bernard, second from left, in a group photo with Bill Cosby, second from right. Courtesy of AMG Law

On Friday, actor Lili Bernard stated at a news conference in New York City that in the early 1990s, Bill Cosby drugged and raped her. Bernard, who guest-starred on the eighth and final season of The Cosby Show as Mrs. Minifield, said Cosby offered to mentor her, telling her, “You’re one of my kids.”

At the news conference, Bernard said, “He praised me. … He lifted me up. I believed him. After all, he was Bill Cosby. After he had won my complete trust and adoration, he drugged me and raped me.”

On April 30, Bernard, along with her lawyer Gloria Allred, went to the police station in Atlantic City to report the alleged crime. There is no statute of limitations for rape in New Jersey, meaning if the police find sufficient evidence to make a case against Cosby, he could be prosecuted.

Bernard said she last had contact with Cosby in 1992 when the comedian threatened her, saying, “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!” Bernard said she told family, friends, a pastor, and a therapist about what had allegedly happened, but never law enforcement until yesterday.

“I am coming forward to show my 6-year-old daughter to stand in truth, and to say that I have survived Bill Cosby’s drugging and raping me,” Bernard said. “I stand here to take back my power and to confront the fear that has paralyzed me for so many years.”

Allred added, “Women need to break out of their fear and report, so that predators can be held accountable. Lili has shown tremendous courage in making her report, and we hope that others will follow her example as well”

Sammie Mays, a writer and author, also came forward at the same news conference as Bernard stating that she had been drugged and assaulted by Cosby. Mays said that in the late 1980s, she met Cosby and asked him for an interview. She alleges he offered for her to come back to his hotel and they could talk along the way. Mays recalled being in Cosby’s hotel room, where he made her a drink. She said she took two big gulps and woke up some time later, slouched over in her chair, with her shirt open, her bra pulled up above her breasts, and her belt unhooked and rehooked looser than she had it.

“I had been out cold and I could not tell how long. I was discombobulated,” Mays said. “I looked up at Bill Cosby for him to say something, to shed light on what had happened. He had this placid expression on his face like there was no need for any concern.”

Since 2014, over three dozen women have come forward alleging they were sexually assaulted by Cosby, with many having similar stories that they were drugged and then raped.

Saturday, Cosby is performing his comedy show “Far From Finished” in Atlanta. A protest is expected to take place outside the venue for the nearly 40 alleged victims. Allred said she and Bernard will attend.

“I look forward to continuing our battle in Atlanta tomorrow against Bill Cosby and making sure that those who hurt women will not be able to do so without being held accountable either in a court of law or in the court of public opinion for their acts of violence against them,” Allred said.

Here Are All The Women Who Have Accused Bill Cosby Of Sexual Assault

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Bill Cosby accusers

(L-R) Actress Lili Bernard and writer Sammie Mays, two new alleged victims of Bill Cosby, with lawyer Gloria Allred speak at a press conference at The Friars Club on May 1, 2015 in New York City.

*Two more women came forward on Friday to say they, too, were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. One was an actress who had appeared on “The Cosby Show.”

In a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred in New York, Lili Bernard and Sammie Mays shared their allegations against Cosby.

Lili, who appeared in an episode of the final season of “The Cosby Show,” claimed that she was drugged, raped and threatened by Cosby while he was mentoring her in preparation for her appearance as “the zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield.”

lili bernard cosby show

According to Bernard, Cosby was initially comforting and welcoming to her, complimenting her on her various skills.

“After he had won my complete trust and adoration he drugged me and raped me,” Bernard said in a statement Friday.

Bernard claimed that she last saw the comedian at the “Cosby Show” studios in 1992, where he 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!”

I interpreted that as a death threat and feared for my life,” Bernard said.

Bernard claims to have become suicidal in the months following that encounter, and said that she still suffers panic attacks and night terrors “as a result of what Mr. Cosby did to me.”

Watch Bernard’s appearance on “The Cosby Show” below:

During Friday’s conference, Sammie Mays said that she encountered Cosby in the mid-’80s, as a writer covering the NATPE convention in New Orleans. According to Mays, when she asked Cosby for a brief interview, she invited him to walk with her from the convention center across the street to his hotel.

Once in Cosby’s hotel suite, Mays says, Cosby mixed a drink for her with his back to her. After taking two big swigs, Mays claims, “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.”

According to Mays, her shirt was unbuttoned and her bra was slid to the side, exposing her breasts, and her belt had been “unhooked and re-hooked, left loose around my hips.”

As previously reported, last week, three new accusers came forward to claim that they had been assaulted by Cosby, including a former model who said that she was “targeted and drugged by Bill Cosby” in 1975 at the Playboy Mansion in Chicago.

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Lili Bernard re Bill Cosby in Daily Mail

‘After he won my complete trust, he drugged me and raped me:’ The Cosby Show actress and a writer come forward claiming Bill Cosby drugged and raped them decades ago

  • Actress Lili Bernard and writer Sammie Mays came forward during a news conference on Friday claiming Bill Cosby drugged and raped them
  • Bernard guest-starred on ‘The Cosby Show,’ where, she said, Cosby gained her trust by mentoring her and praising her skills
  • Mays holds that after accepting a drink from Cosby, she awoke partially undressed and confused

By Charlene Adams for MailOnline

Published: 19:38 EST, 1 May 2015 | Updated: 14:51 EST, 21 May 2015

The sexual assault scandal surrounding Bill Cosby grew Friday as two more women alleged in a news conference that the comedian sexually assaulted them decades ago.

This brings the list of Cosby’s accusers to more than 40 women.

Actress Lili Bernard and writer Sammie Mays shared their allegations against Cosby at the conference with renowned lawyer Gloria Allred one day before the comedian’s last show of his national comedy tour.

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LiliSammie1

Allegations: Actress Lili Bernard (left) and writer Sammie Mays (right) came forward with allegations that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago

Dozens: Though accused of sexual assault by more than three dozen women,  77-year-old Cosby has never been charged for any of the allegations

Dozens: Though accused of sexual assault by more than three dozen women, 77-year-old Cosby has never been charged for any of the allegations

Bernard holds that, in the nineties, Cosby offered to mentor her when she guest-starred on the final season of ‘The Cosby Show’ as the pregnant Mrs. Minifield. She alleges the comedian drugged, raped, and threatened her.

‘He praised me. … He lifted me up,’ Bernard said, according to BuzzFeed.

‘I believed him. After all, he was Bill Cosby. After he had won my complete trust and adoration, he drugged me and raped me.’

She recalled last seeing Cosby in 1992 where he allegedly told her ‘you’re dead, Bernard. You don’t exist.’

Lili Bernard on Bill Cosby: ‘He drugged me and raped me’

Guest Star: Bernard, who guest-starred on 'The Cosby Show' (photographed) in its final season, alleges that Cosby drug, raped, and threatened her

Guest Star: Bernard, who guest-starred on ‘The Cosby Show’ (photographed) in its final season, alleges that Cosby drug, raped, and threatened her.

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Group: Here, Bernard is seen (second from the left) in a group photograph with Bill Cosby (second from right). Photo: Lili Bernard, Courtesy of AMG Law

Aftermath: Following the alleged assault, Bernard said she became suicidal, sought help, and was hospitalized

Aftermath: Following the alleged assault, Bernard said she became suicidal, sought help, and was hospitalized.

She said she interpreted his words as a death threat, The Wrap reports.

Following the alleged assault, Bernard said she became suicidal, sought help, and was hospitalized, according to The Wrap.

She said she still suffers panic attacks and night terrors as a result of the alleged attack.

She told friends, family, a pastor, and a therapist of the assault, but never Law enforcement until this week.

‘I am coming forward to show my 6-year-old daughter to stand in truth, and to say that I have survived Bill Cosby’s drugging and raping me,’ Bernard said.

‘I stand here to take back my power and to confront the fear that has paralyzed me for so many years.’

Bernard said she and Allred went to Atlantic City, New Jersey, which has no statute of limitations for rape, on Thursday and reported the assault to the police.

One of the alleged assaults reportedly took place in New Jersey.

Writer: Mays (right) holds that during an interview with Cosby he drugged her and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room

Writer: Mays (right) holds that during an interview with Cosby he drugged her and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room

During the conference, Sammie Mays said she was a writer covering a television convention in the mid-eighties when she was allegedly assaulted by Cosby.

She said Cosby agreed to an interview and the two went to his hotel suite where he prepared a drink for her with his back to her, The Wrap reports.

Mays said she awoke confused and partially undressed noticing that her belt had been ‘unhooked and re-hooked, left loose around my hips.’ She said she attempted to compose herself and quickly left.

‘Once in the lobby,’ she said, ‘I realized I had just survived an encounter with a scheming madman who hid his demons behind an alluring personality.’

Sobbing: Bernard (left) sobbed during the conference where she spoke alongside prominent lawyer Gloria Allred (center)

Sobbing: Bernard (left) sobbed during the conference where she spoke alongside prominent lawyer Gloria Allred (center)

Partially Undressed: Mays alleges that after accepting a drink from Cosby, she awoke confused and partially undressed

Partially Undressed: Mays alleges that after accepting a drink from Cosby, she awoke confused and partially undressed

Cosby is best known for his role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the classic television series ‘The Cosby Show.’ Though accused of sexual assault by more than three dozen women, the 77-year-old has never been charged for any of the allegations.

Last week, three other women broke their silence, accusing the man of sexually assault.

Cosby’s attorney has previously dismissed similar allegations against the comedian by other women describing them as ‘discredited’ and ‘defamatory.’

A protest is scheduled to take place at the Atlanta theater where Cosby is scheduled to perform Saturday. Allred said she plans to attend.

‘I look forward to continuing our battle in Atlanta tomorrow against Bill Cosby and making sure that those who hurt women will not be able to do so without being held accountable either in a court of law or in the court of public opinion for their acts of violence against them,’ Allred said.

Report: Bernard reported her allegations to law enforcement in New Jersey, where there is no statute of limitations for rape

Report: Bernard reported her allegations to law enforcement in New Jersey, where there is no statute of limitations for rape

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3064961/After-won-complete-trust-drugged-raped-Cosby-actress-writer-come-forward-claiming-Bill-Cosby-drugged-raped-decades-ago.html#ixzz3aomV9EVk

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usa today

USA TODAY, Maria Puente, USA TODAY 6:56 p.m. EDT May 1, 2015

Cosby accuser aims for criminal charges

Getty USA Today

(Photo: Noam Galai, Getty Images)

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A former Cosby Show actress who says Bill Cosby drugged and raped her in the early 1990s has gone to the police in New Jersey, a state with no statute of limitation for rape.

Lili Bernard, who made a guest appearance on Cosby’s show in its last season and was mentored by the comedian, was one of two new accusers who went public Friday to allege that Cosby drugged and raped them decades ago.

Now she wants him prosecuted for a crime.

Both new accusers were introduced at a New York press conference by Gloria Allred, the women’s-rights lawyer who’s has become Cosby’s main legal adversary, representing 17 of more than 40 women who in recent months have accused Cosby of assaulting them in episodes dating as far back as the 1960s.

Cosby has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. Most of his accusers say they were assaulted at times and places where the statutes of limitation have expired.

Now Allred has put forward an accuser who hopes to get around that. Allred said she and Bernard went to police in Atlantic City on Thursday, where they spent five hours being interviewed by detectives.

“Unlike most other states, New Jersey has no statue 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,” Allred said.

Barnard did not provide specifics of what happened to her — it wasn’t clear, for instance, if what she says happened to her happened in New Jersey.

But she says Cosby drugged and raped her, and during their last encounter in the show’s studio in 1992, he threatened her in a way that left her in fear of her life.

She subsequently became suicidal, was hospitalized, went into therapy and still suffers from panic attacks, she said.

“I stand here to take back my power and to confront the fear that has paralyzed me for so many years,” she said.

The other accuser is Sammie Mays, a writer who says she met Cosby in 1986 or 1987 while covering a convention in New Orleans that he attended. He agreed to an interview, they went to his hotel room, he fixed her a drink and she lost consciousness. She awoke to find herself half undressed and falling out of a chair.

She now believes she was raped while she was unconscious, but at the time she pretended her “knockout” was her fault. She apologized and fled.

“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,” Mays said.

Allred said she would join protesters in Atlanta on Saturday where Cosby is scheduled to perform in one of the last shows of his current tour. Earlier this week, he released a statement saying he was looking forward to the show.

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