Bill Cosby: More women accuse actor and comedian of sexual assault

The comedian and actor has said that the public should “fact check” before making decisions

Actor and comedian Bill Cosby (Getty )

Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by four new women over the weekend.

Kristina Ruehli alleges that the comedy actor tried to force her to have oral sex with him after she claimed that he drugged her drink when she was 22 in 1965.

Former comedy club manager Joyce Emmons – who knew Cosby in the Seventies – claims she woke up in bed nude with one of the actor’s friends, who had unsuccessfully shown his interest in her earlier on in the evening.

Cosby had previously giving her a pill to deal with a migraine she was having. When Emmons questioned him about the incident, he allegedly laughed and said it was “just a Quaalude” – a sedative-hypnotic drug.

Renita Chaney Hill, now 47, believes she was drugged by the actor when she was an aspiring teenage actress in the Eighties. She claims she was forced to drink alcohol, despite being underage, which she now believes were drugged. She would then find herself in bed with no memory of what happened the night before.

Actress Angela Leslie claims that Cosby drugged her and sexually assaulted her in his Las Vegas hotel room.

The main thing I want is for people to know him for who he really is,” Leslie told the Daily News. “He’s not this dad of America.”

The accusations following similar claims made by Lou Ferrigno, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Therese Serignese and Janice Dickinson.

This weekend, Cosby defended himself against the claims, saying that “people need to fact check”.

“I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos,” Cosby told Florida Today.

“People should fact check. People shouldn’t have to go through that and shouldn’t answer to innuendos.”

On Friday, he was given standing ovation when he performed at Melbourne, Florida.

Last weekend, the actor’s lawyer said that he will not be commenting on the “decade-old discredited” allegations.

“The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true,” read a statement on Cosby’s website.

“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.”

This week his lawyers also responded to a further allegation against him, saying it was “a complete lie”.

In 2006, Andrea Constand claimed that Cosby had drugged and assaulted her in his Philadelphia mansion in 2004 - allegations firmly denied by his lawyers. Over 13 alleged victims were proposing to testify but the civil case with Constand settled in 2006. The terms of the settlement remain undisclosed.

Cosby has never been arrested or charged with any offence arising from the allegations.