The Cosby Show and New York Against Sexual Affect: A New Law Creating a New Age for Sexually Assault Victims

Earlier this month, five women — including two actors from The Cosby Show — filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Cosby using a new New York law, known as the Adult Survivors Act, which lets victims sue abusers even after the statute of limitations expires.

Cosby’s publicist and crisis manager, Andrew Wyatt, told NPR on Thursday that the tour is tentatively scheduled to occur “roughly around spring, summer or late summer” of 2023.

“We have hundreds of thousands of people who want him to do a show and we’d love to have him do a show for them,” he said. “We have so many promoters across the country. He is in high demand.”

“The fight against sexual assault requires us to recognize the impact of trauma within our justice system,” Hochul said, after signing the Adult Survivors Act into law. The legislation that I signed is part of our responsibility to protect one another and create an environment in which survivors feel safe.

A woman who says she was sexually assault by a sitcom star and comedian, Bill Cosby, is among five others who have sued him for sexual battery.

In another instance months later, Cosby invited Pinkerton to a show at the Chicago Theatre and forcefully kissed and touched her without consent, the suit says.

The suit asserts that Cosby engaged in a pattern of conduct with his victims, expressing his desire to drug them and sexually assault them.

“She has brought this lawsuit to hold him accountable and stand up for herself and others, and the law in New York now allows her and other adults to bring this action against the offenders and those that allowed it to happen,” Pinkerton’s lawyer, Jeff Anderson, said in a phone call with CNN.

The courts and the public opinion will take into consideration the rules of law and relieve Mr. Cosby of these accusations. Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations waged against him and looks forward to defending himself in court,” Andrew Wyatt wrote.

When the statute of limitations was abolished in New York, it was going to lead to a number of old allegations being revived, Bonjean told CNN. “Our position is that the statute is unconstitutional, because it revives claims that have been barred by the statute of limitation for a long time, and that it sets a very dangerous precedent, legally speaking, and not just in the context of old assaults.”