Bill Cosby faces a new lawsuit from former Playboy model Victoria Valentino who accused the comedian of drugging and raping her while she sued him under new California law that lifted the statute of limitations
- Victoria Valentino, a former Playboy model, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday
- Cosby, 85, was previously convicted in April 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting basketball coach Andrea Constand in 2004.
Bill Cosby has been sued in California by a former Playboy model who claims he raped her five decades ago.
Victoria Valentino, 80, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday under a new law that lifted the statute of limitations in civil sexual assault cases.
Cosby, 85, was previously convicted in April 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting basketball coach Andrea Constand in 2004.
He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but only served three years of his sentence before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction. He was released on June 30, 2021.
During his entertainment career, Cosby has been accused of a slew of sex crimes by at least 60 women – which he denies.
Bill Cosby was sued in California by a former Playboy model who claims he raped her five decades ago
Victoria Valentino filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday under a new law that lifted the statute of limitations in civil sexual assault cases.
The new California law, which allowed Valentino to sue, allows sexual assault accusers to seek damages regardless of how long the alleged crimes took place.
She claims Cosby drugged and raped her in 1969 after they met at Los Angeles’ Café Figaro restaurant on Melrose Avenue. They had met earlier at an acting audition.
Valentino says she was crying over her six-year-old son’s recent drowning when Cosby approached her.
Valentino was having dinner with a friend at the time. He then paid for them to go to a Finnish spa, then took the couple to a Sunset Strip steakhouse for dinner, where he gave them pills.
Bill Cosby sexual assault survivor Victoria Valentino attends a vigil for survivors at Independence Hall on July 10, 2021
Comedian Bill Cosby, center, after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction
He reportedly said, “It will make you feel better. It will make ALL of us feel better.
Cosby then led them to an office, she claims in the lawsuit, where she and her unnamed friend passed out.
Valentino says she woke up, saw Cosby approaching her friend and tried to protect her. But the lawsuit then claims that Cosby got angry and raped Valentino.
At the time, Valentino was a popular model and was known for her 1963 photo shoot with Playboy.
In an interview with the Washington PostValentino said: “It’s not about money, it’s about responsibility. Rape robs you of something that can’t be fixed or restored.
“It impacts everything in your life. It’s like a stone dropped into a still pool and all those expanding ripples touch shores you could never have imagined.
The accuser, who lives in Arizona, first discussed his rape allegations publicly in 2014 and appeared in a Pennsylvania court during the trial in which he was convicted.
Following her alleged sexual abuse, she moved to New Orleans and then to the Southwest, where she became a registered nurse.
Before filing the lawsuit this morning, Valentino told the Post that the scars of what she claims happened to her have stayed with her over the decades.
