A former Playboy model submitted a lawsuit Thursday accusing Bill Cosby of drugging and raping her in 1969.
Victoria Valentino, 80, is suing Cosby, 85, for sexual assault and sexual battery in Los Angeles. The complaint arrives five months after California temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for adults who say they were sexually abused by another adult.
In the lawsuit, Valentino claims that the “I Spy” star approached her and a friend while they were getting dinner at Café Figaro in Los Angeles in 1969. The actor and singer — who had met Cosby while auditioning for an acting role earlier that year — was “inconsolably crying” over the death of her 6-year-old son when Cosby walked up to their table and engaged in conversation with her and her friend, the complaint alleges.
Cosby allegedly offered to pay for the women to get a steam bath and a massage at a nearby spa and vowed to “treat” them to dinner afterward. The TV actor later took the women to Sneaky Pete’s, a then-new steakhouse on the Sunset Strip, where he presented the women with pills and pretended to take one himself, the lawsuit claims.
“Here! Take This!” Cosby allegedly told Valentino and her friend. “It will make you feel better. It will make us ALL feel better.”
Shortly thereafter, Valentino’s “head began nodding and she struggled to keep her head up and stay awake,” the complaint states. Feeling nauseated and like her head was spinning, Valentino claims she said she wanted to go home.
Instead of taking the women home, Cosby then allegedly took them to his office, which contained work supplies, “I Spy” memorabilia and two small couches. The filing claims that Valentino’s friend “immediately passed out” on one of the couches while she sat down on the other and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, Cosby was allegedly staring at her unconscious friend “with predatory intensity.” Valentino tried to distract Cosby after noticing he had an erection and fearing he was going to assault her friend, the lawsuit continues.
“Angry and exasperated by” Valentino’s attempts to stop him, Cosby allegedly began walking toward her instead “with a terrifying expression on his face” as she failed to stand up. He then allegedly unzipped his pants, sexually assaulted and raped Valentino.
In a statement provided Thursday to The Times, Cosby’s publicist, Andrew Wyatt, accused Valentino of going “from town to town promoting her alleged allegations against Mr. Cosby to anyone that would give her platform, without any proof or facts.” He dismissed Valentino’s claims as part of “a formula to make sure that no more Black Men in America accumulate the American Dream that was secured by [Cosby].”
Cosby’s rep also deemed legislation lifting the statute of limitations “a sheer violation of all American’s Constitutional Rights.”
“Statutes of Limitations reside in The Constitution, in order to protect those who are victims of a crime and to protect those that are accused of a crime,” Wyatt continued.
“Unfortunately, these ‘Look Back Windows’ are brought to life because our political figures are being driven by click-baiters, likes and followers, in order to excel to their political aspirations.”
Valentino is seeking unspecified monetary relief for medical and legal fees, among other expenses. But she told the Washington Post that her lawsuit is “about accountability,” not money.
“Rape steals something from you that cannot be repaired or restored,” said Valentino, who felt empowered to take legal action against Cosby after a New York jury found last month that former President Donald Trump had sexually assaulted journalist E. Jean Carroll.
“It impacts everything in your life,” Valentino added. “It’s like a stone dropped into a still pool and all of those expanding ripples touch shores you could never have imagined.”
Valentino previously accused Cosby of raping her before a Pennsylvania judge sentenced him to prison for sexual assault in 2018. At the time, Valentino called the day of the sentencing a “great day for women and a great day for rape survivors.”
Cosby was later released from prison after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned the 2018 conviction because a former district attorney once promised Cosby he wouldn’t be charged in that case.
In June 2022, a Santa Monica jury determined that Cosby sexually abused Judy Huth at the Playboy Mansion in the 1970s when she was 16. The disgraced comedian was ordered to pay Huth $500,000.
At least 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
