“We challenge Mr. Cosby to end this nightmare,” proclaimed Gloria Allred.
On Wednesday afternoon, the renowned civil/women’s rights lawyer who’s represented everyone from Nicole Brown Simpson’s family during the O.J. Simpson murder trial to Tiger Woods’s myriad mistresses held an intimate presser in the conference room of her Los Angeles office. Allred was flanked by Beth Ferrier, aka Jane Doe No. 5 in Andrea Constand’s 2005 civil suit against Bill Cosby alleging sexual assault, as well as two new Cosby accusers: Helen Hayes, and a woman who went by “Chelan.”
Allred publicly requested that Cosby “waive the statute of limitations” for six months beginning December 4 so that everyone accusing him of rape charges may file suit against him. Then, Ferrier, tears streaming down her face, once again recounted her story of being drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby after a show in Denver, waking up with her clothes all over the place. She also claimed that she told her story to The National Enquirer in 2005 and they made her take a lie detector test, which she passed, but that the story was killed in exchange for Cosby granting the tabloid an exclusive interview. “I hope my coming forward inspires any other person harmed by Mr. Cosby to have the courage to come forward and to tell the truth about what happened,” said a sobbing Ferrier.
Then, Helen Hayes, a new Cosby accuser, told her story. She claimed to have an unfortunate encounter with Cosby in the summer of 1973 at a celebrity tennis tournament in Pebble Beach, California. Cosby allegedly stalked her and her friends all weekend.
“Bill found us again on Saturday night even though we had changed restaurants several times to avoid him,” said Hayes. “At first, we thought it was all right because it was day time, and because it was Bill Cosby. We felt we were safe. But then when he found us in the last restaurant, he approached me from behind and reached over my shoulder and grabbed my right breast. I was stunned, and angry, because he had no right to do that. And I didn’t know why he would behave that way. His behavior was like that of a predator.”At that point, Hayes seemed to cut her story short, barely able to speak through the tears.
Next came another new Cosby accuser, a black woman named “Chelan.” She said that she came in contact with Cosby while working at the Las Vegas Hilton. The year was 1986, and Chelan was a 17-year-old high school student and “aspiring model.”
“Bill Cosby called me at home in Las Vegas and reached my grandmother,” recounted Chelan. “He said he wanted to meet me, and me and my grandmother should come to the Las Vegas Hilton where he’d be performing his show.”
Chelan claimed that Cosby promised to introduce her to representatives from Ford Models, so she visited him at the hotel with her grandmother. Once she arrived solo at his hotel suite, he drugged her and told her to chase it with a shot of amaretto.
“He gave me a blue pill, which he said was an antihistamine,” said Chelan. “He was rubbing my neck… he had me put on a Hilton robe, and said that someone from the Ford agency was coming to the suite, and that I should wet my hair.”
Someone did come the hotel room, she said, took a few pictures of her, told her to lose four pounds, and left the room. Then, she claimed Cosby preyed on her.
“Mr. Cosby walked me to the bedroom after a second shot of amaretto,” said Chelan. “He said it would help my cold. I laid down. He laid next to me on the bed, and began pinching my left nipple, and humping on my leg while he was grunting… I couldn’t open my eyes… I felt something warm on my legs, and I blacked out.”Chelan added, “Hours later, I woke up to him clapping his hands and saying, ‘Daddy says wake up.’” Then, Cosby allegedly gave Chelan $1,500 in cash and told her to buy something nice for her grandmother. Later, she said he invited her to see The Temptations in concert and check out his Vegas stand-up show. When she declined, she claimed she was fired from the Vegas Hilton, and that the whole experience scarred her for life.
The two new Cosby accusers brings the total number to 26. Allred, for her part, said she hasn’t been in contact with Cosby’s attorneys about her statute of limitations offer, but did add that Chelan “may have a right to sue” for child sexual abuse.“There has been no day since this started that I have not been contacted by [Cosby accusers],” Allred said.