Bill Cosby hit with new lawsuit from singer Morganne Picard

• Posted on August 7, 2023August 7, 2023
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Bill Cosby faces a new lawsuit against him from a singer who claims that the comedian drugged and raped her in the late 1980s.

According to paperwork filed under the Adult Survivors Act that was seen by PEOPLE, plaintiff Morganne Picard accused Cosby of inviting the aspiring musician to the set of The Cosby Show in 1987, when she alleged that he “insisted and encouraged” her to drink beverages that made her feel “extremely intoxicated” on “multiple occasions” between then and 1990.

Picard also alleged that she was blacked out and raped after drinking a beverage from Cosby at his home, and later woke up “naked with soreness in her vagina” in a hotel room.

“Upon information and belief, when Ms. Picard was physically incapacitated by the unknown intoxicant, Cosby undressed and raped her, without her consent and when she did not have the capacity to consent,” the lawsuit alleged.

The document also named Kaufman Astoria Studios, Astoria Studios LP II, the Carsey-Warner Company and NBCUniversal as defendants, as they did “not investigate, reprimand, supervise nor in any way try to stop Cosby from sexually abusing, assaulting and/or battering women.”

Kaufman Astoria Studios, the Carsey-Warner Company and NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday.

Astoria Studios LP II, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment.

Picard is specifically suing Bill Cosby for battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She’s suing the other defendants for negligent hiring and negligence.

“It is disappointing to see that these alleged distractors are able to monetize false allegations against Mr. Cosby,” Andrew Wyatt, a rep for the comedian, said in a statement to PEOPLE.

Wyatt added: “Mr. Cosby continues to invoke his Constitutional Rights by saying, ‘Not Guilty’ and vehemently denying all of these alleged allegations waged against him.”

The Adult Survivors Act gives adult victims a window of a year to sue alleged abusers over older sexual crime regardless of the Statute of Limitations. The one-year window for new claims ends on Thanksgiving 2024.

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