Bill Cosby ordered to pay $19m in 1972 sexual assault case

A California jury has ordered comedian Bill Cosby to pay $19.25 million in damages to a woman who accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her more than five decades ago.

The verdict, delivered on Monday in a Santa Monica courtroom, found the 88-year-old entertainer liable for the alleged assault of Donna Motsinger, now 84, in 1972. The jury determined that Cosby had drugged and sexually assaulted the then-waitress after inviting her to one of his comedy shows.

According to court filings, Motsinger was working at the Trident restaurant in Sausalito, California—a known celebrity haunt—when Cosby invited her to his performance. She alleged that after picking her up in a limousine, he gave her a pill she believed to be aspirin.

“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness,” the lawsuit stated, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. “The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light.”

The legal action further alleged that she woke up at home naked, save for her underwear, and realized she had been drugged and raped.

Cosby’s legal team has strongly denied the allegations and confirmed plans to appeal. His attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told US media outlets that they would challenge Monday’s verdict. In previous court filings, Cosby’s lawyers argued that Motsinger “freely admits that she has no idea what happened” during the evening in question.

The jury has not yet determined the final amount of the judgment, as deliberations on additional punitive damages are ongoing.

The case is one of the final legal actions against the once-revered star, whose reputation as “America’s Dad” from his hit 1980s and 90s sitcom The Cosby Show was shattered by accusations from dozens of women. Allegations of rape, sexual assault, and misconduct against Cosby date back to the 1960s. He has consistently maintained that all his encounters were consensual.

Cosby was previously convicted of sexual assault in Pennsylvania in 2018 but was freed from prison in 2021 after the state’s highest court threw out his conviction on a technicality.