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Several women have come forward with new sexual harassment allegations against Bill Cosby, but it was actually a rival comedian who breathed new life into these claims that have dogged the 77-year-old for more than a decade.
New biography
This is according to The Guardian who reported that it was US standup comic Hannibal Buress who on stage in Philadelphia described Cosby as a "rapist".
But what sparked it off?
The Independent reported that Buress hit out at Cosby following the release of a new biography that ignored the sex scandal surrounding the world famous comedian.
The book entitled Cosby: His Life and Times covers detailed interviews with Cosby and over sixty of his closest friends. It also gives insight into the murder of his only son Ennis in 1997.
The author of the book, Mark Whitaker, justified his decision to omit the sexual allegations by telling Buzzfeed that he did not want to print claims that he could not confirm because there were no independent witnesses or definitive court findings.
He later admitted in a tweet that he was wrong to ignore the claims in his book.
@carr2n David you are right. I was wrong to not deal with the sexual assault charges against Cosby and pursue them more aggressively.
— Mark Whitaker (@Marktwhitaker) November 24, 2014In light of this, a series of fresh sexual assault accusations have been lodged against the man who was affectionately referred to as America's Dad.
Semen on clothes
The latest, Judy Huth, has gone a step further than the other women, by suing Cosby for allegedly molesting her in 1974 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles when she was just 15, reported Reuters.
Read: Sexual problems may linger well after rape
This news came shortly after former supermodel Janice Dickinson broke down in an interview with CNN as she recalled waking up with severe pain and Cosby's semen on her clothes after he allegedly drugged and raped her.
Cosby's lawyer responded, wrote the Daily Mail, saying that Dickinson was fabricating lies, but she retorted: "I say you raped me Bill Cosby, you raped me in 1982 in Lake Tahoe."
Thus far, 16 women have publicly accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them, states the Vulture, who published a timeline of abuse charges.
Cosby was neither arrested nor charged with any offence as a result of all these sexual misconduct allegations.
However, a settlement was reached with Andrea Constand who claimed that in 2004 she was drugged and assaulted by Cosby in his Philadelphia mansion.
Thirteen alleged victims were set to testify in her civil case.
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One of the victims was Barbara Bowman, who recently in a Washington Post column questioned why it took 30 years for people to believe that she was on multiple times a victim of sexual assaulted by Cosby.
Womanising ways
"I’ll never forget the clinking of his belt buckle as he struggled to pull his pants off," she wrote.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, veteran NBC employee Frank Scotti spilled the beans on "Cosby’s womanising ways".
The facilities manager at the Brooklyn studio where The Cosby Show was originally taped claims that he was used by Cosby to distribute thousands of dollars to eight women between 1989-90.
He also claimed that Cosby would invite young models over who were as young as 16 to his dressing room and then ask him to stand guard outside. "Now you put that together and figure (out) why.”
Cosby's lawyers dismissed Scotti's story as pure speculation.
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While the public jury remains split on whether Cosby has indeed fallen from grace, as expected, his brand has been tarnished.
This is evident from NBC and Netflix ditching projects with Cosby. TV Land also pulled the plug on reruns of The Cosby Show. Live stand up shows in the US has also been cancelled.
Cosby has also resigned from the board of trustees at Temple University. "I have always been proud of my association with Temple University. I have always wanted to do what would be in the best interests of the university and its students," he said in a statement.
When Cosby was unexpectedly asked directly about the new sex claims during an interview with the Associated Press, there was an awkward silence as he refused to comment. He subsequently asked that the question and response be cut out from the interview.
Although Cosby chooses to remain silent about the claims, the voices of the women that he allegedly mistreated are ringing loudly.
Also read:
Sex can be a dangerous tool of manipulation
Rape trauma not a barrier to pregnancy
Rape survivors: plan of action
Three Spanish priests arrested for child sex abuse
