Bill Cosby’s rape allegations aren’t going away. Joan Tarshis is the latest woman to come forward accusing the legendary actor and comedian of sexual assault. The former actress and publicist claimed that Cosby raped her twice back in 1969, detailing her charges in an on-camera interview with CNN on Monday, Nov. 17.
Tarshis, now 64, told CNN’s Don Lemon that Cosby allegedly drugged her twice when she was 19 years old. “We went up to his bungalow and he made me a drink. Shortly after that I passed out,” she told Lemon. “I woke up or came to very groggily with him removing my underwear.”
Tarshis went into graphic detail about the alleged incident, explaining that she tried to make Cosby stop by lying about an infection. “I said, if you have sex with me your wife is gonna know it because you probably will infect her,” Tarshis continued. “I thought I was very clever in saying that, but he was more clever and instead he made me have oral sex with him, which really was just horrible. To me it’s much, much worse than had he just raped me the normal way.” The second alleged rape occurred after the Cosby Show star invited her to see one of his shows, but Tarshis has no recollection of the incident.
Tarshis also explained why she didn’t go to the police earlier. “Who’s going to believe me? Bill Cosby, the all-American dad, the all-American husband. Mr. Jell-O that everybody loves. Who would believe me? They’d probably think I was out to get something,” she told Lemon. “My emotions won at this point,” she added of her emotional state at the time. “I felt a lot of shame. I felt a lot of guilt.”
Tarshis’ allegations come just days after former model and actress Barbara Bowman, 46, claimed in a Washington Post op-ed that Cosby “brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times.” Watch a clip of Bowman detailing her allegations against Cosby.
Cosby kept mum over the weekend about these and other allegations during an interview with NPR. Before Tarshis’ CNN interview on Monday, however, his lawyer posted a statement on Cosby’s website denying the claims. “Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced,” John P. Schmitt said in the statement. “The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment.”
“He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work,” Schmitt continued. “There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives.”
