Thirty years ago this fall, The Cosby Show debuted on NBC, and its star was catapulted into the comedic stratosphere. The timing is prime, then, for the release of a sprawling biography. Written by former Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker, Cosby: His Life and Times documents the man’s rise from the Philadelphia projects, while also detailing the creation of his family sitcom and the murder of his son Ennis in 1997.
The book is notable, however, for its complete avoidance of sexual abuse allegations that have dogged Cosby for more than a decade. In a statement to Buzzfeed’s Kate Aurthur, Whitaker says, “I didn’t want to print allegations that I couldn’t confirm independently.†Regardless, their absence is glaring. Consider the following timeline an appendix to the book.
November 2002
Andrea Constand, director of operations for Temple University’s women’s basketball team, allegedly met with Bill Cosby. Constand claims that Cosby, who had been a member of Temple’s track and field and football teams, assumed a role as her mentor.
January 2004
According to Constand, she visited Cosby at his Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, home to discuss career advice, and after allegedly (according to a civil lawsuit she would later file) giving her “herbal†pills to ease her anxiety, Cosby “touched her breasts and vaginal area, rubbed his penis against her hand, and digitally penetrated†her.
January 13, 2005
Constand, who had since moved near Toronto to study massage therapy, accuses Cosby of “inappropriate touching†— groping her breasts and placing her hand on his genitals — to Canadian authorities. Cosby’s lawyer calls her allegation “utterly preposterous†and “plainly bizarre.â€
January 27, 2005
ABC News reports that the interaction between Constand and Cosby — who is at this point cooperating with the investigation — might have been consensual.
February 10, 2005
Tamara Green, a California lawyer, appears on the Today show and alleges that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in the 1970s. Green tells Matt Lauer that Cosby, who had given her pills to combat a fever, drove her to her apartment and began “… groping me and kissing me and touching me and handling me and … taking off my clothes.†According to Green, Cosby left two $100 bills on her coffee table afterwards. Cosby’s lawyer issues a statement: “Miss Green’s allegations are absolutely false. Mr. Cosby does not know the name Tamara Green or Tamara Lucier [her maiden name], and the incident she describes did not happen. The fact that she may have repeated this story to others is not corroboration.â€
February 17, 2005
Citing a lack of evidence, the investigating district attorney in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, announces he will not act on Constand’s accusation and bring criminal charges against Cosby.
March 8, 2005
Constand files a civil complaint against Cosby. The five-count lawsuit charges Cosby with battery and assault, and asks for at least $150,000 in damages. Thirteen women who allege similar experiences as Constand and Green are mentioned in court papers as Jane Doe witnesses.
May 2005
In Constand’s civil lawsuit, she alleges the comedian gave her three blue pills, which he said was herbal medication. Cosby’s lawyers, however, issue a court filing and attempt to clarify that the comedian merely gave Constand one and a half tablets of Benadryl.
June 2005
Jane Doe 5 goes public. Beth Ferrier claims she was in a relationship with Cosby in the mid-1980s, one that ended when he allegedly drugged her coffee and Ferrier woke in a car. “My clothes were a mess. My bra was undone. My top was untucked. And I’m sitting there going, ‘Oh my God. Where am I?’ What’s going on? I was so out of it. It was just awful.â€
February 2006
While in the midst of her civil suit, Constand sues one of Cosby’s lawyers — and the National Enquirer — for defamation. Cosby had spoken to the tabloid the year before, and Constand claimed the interview defamed her as it “[intended] to or knowing it would injure†her.
June 2006*
Philadelphia magazine interviews another witness in Constand’s lawsuit, Barbara Bowman. “Cosby threw me on the bed and braced his forearm against my neck and attempted to disrobe me and himself,†she said in another Philadelphia interview later that year. “I can still remember him messing with his belt. And I was screaming and crying and yelling and begging him to stop.â€
November 2006
Cosby settles with Constand. Terms are not disclosed, and none of the 13 other women testify.
December 2006
The following month, People magazine publishes Bowman’s account of several assaults: “It was in a hotel in Reno, claims Bowman, that Cosby assaulted her one night in 1986. ‘He took my hand and his hand over it, and he masturbated with his hand over my hand,’ says Bowman, who, although terrified, kept quiet about the incident and continued as Cosby’s protégé because, she says, ‘Who’s gonna believe this? He was a powerful man. He was like the president.’ Before long she was alone with Cosby again in his Manhattan townhouse; she was given a glass of red wine, and “the next thing I know, I’m sick and I’m nauseous and I’m delusional and I’m limp and … I can’t think straight…. And I just came to, and I’m wearing a [men’s] T-shirt that wasn’t mine, and he was in a white robe.’â€
That same People article reports that three of the Jane Does from the March 2005 case accepted cash from Cosby for years, and two others began consensual sexual relationships with Cosby.
February 2014
Katie Baker of Newsweek — Whitaker’s former employer — interviews both Green and Bowman about the alleged assaults. Bowman tells Baker she was disappointed in the settlement, and Green recounts running into and accosting Cosby in Las Vegas, yelling, “Rapist! Liar! Asshole!†While Cosby doesn’t issue a statement regarding Bowman’s claims, his publicist responds to Green, “This is a 10-year-old, discredited accusation that proved to be nothing at the time, and is still nothing.â€
October 16, 2014
Comedian Hannibal Buress does an extended bit about the rape charges in Cosby’s home town of Philadelphia. “Bill Cosby has the fucking smuggest old black man public persona that I hate,†Buress says. “Pull your pants up, black people. I was on TV in the ’80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom. Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby. So, brings you down a couple notches.†A clip of the set goes viral after being posted in Philadelphia magazine.
November 10,2014
To battle the bad press, Cosby’s PR team launches an online meme generator. Twitter is immediately inundated with references to the rape claims.Â
November 13, 2014
Inspired by the reactions to Buress’s bit, Bowman pens an op-ed in the Washington Post, titled “Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?†She notes that “only after a man … called Bill Cosby a rapist in a comedy act last month did the public outcry begin in earnest.â€
November 15, 2014
Cosby is asked about the various charges on NPR’s “Weekend Edition†but stays silent. His lawyer later posts a statement saying Cosby “won’t dignify these allegations with any response.â€
November 16, 2014
A new accuser, Joan Tarshis, alleges that Cosby drugged and assaulted her on two occasions in 1969. “As more and more of his rape victims have come forward, all telling similar stories,†Tarshis says, “the time is right to join them.â€Â
November 17, 2014
Linda Joy Traitz, a former waitress at Cosby’s Café Figaro, writes a lengthy Facebook post accusing the actor of trying to drug her in the early ‘70s. She says the incident occurred when Cosby drove her home one night: “He drove out to the beach and opened a briefcase filled with assorted drugs and kept offering me pills ‘to relax,’ which I declined. He began to get sexually aggressive and wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer. I freaked out and demanded to be taken home.â€
November 18, 2014
On Entertainment Tonight, supermodel Janice Dickinson becomes the next woman to accuse Cosby of sexual abuse, saying the comedian drugged and raped her in 1982. She recalls Cosby giving her wine and a pill, which he told her were for menstrual cramps: “Before I woke up in the morning, the last thing I remember was Bill Cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me. And I remember a lot of pain. The next morning I remember waking up with my pajamas off and there was semen in between my legs.†Dickinson alluded to the event in her 2002 memoir, and later told Howard Stern she was asked to change the text to show Cosby in a better light.
Netflix indefinitely shelves the Bill Cosby stand-up special that was set to air Thanksgiving week.
November 19, 2014
Nearly all remnants of Cosby vanish from the airwaves as TV Land pulls all Cosby Show reruns from its schedule and NBC scraps the sitcom it was developing with him.
The Associated Press releases video of a November 6 interview in which Cosby tells an AP interviewer to “scuttle†footage of him refusing to comment on the charges. “If you want to consider yourself to be serious,†he says, “it will not appear anywhere.†Cosby later says he “thought AP had the integrity to not ask.â€
November 20, 2014
A hoax website publishes a story saying Raven-Symoné was abused by Cosby as a child. Symoné disputes the rumor on Instagram: â€I was NOT taking [sic] advantage of by Mr. Cosby when I was on the Cosby Show! I was practically a baby on that show and this is truly a disgusting rumor that I want no part of! Everyone on that show treated me with nothing but kindness. Now keep me out of this!â€
Three additional women accuse Cosby of sexual assault: Carla Ferrigno, wife and manager of Incredible Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno, says Cosby “attacked†her when she was a teenager, grabbing and kissing her at a 1967 party; Love, American Style actress Louisa Moritz tells TMZ that Cosby forced her to perform oral sex on him in a Tonight Show green-room in 1971; and nurse Theresa Serignese claims Cosby drugged and raped her in 1976. Serignese was one of 13 Jane Does in the 2005 court case, while Ferrigno and Moritz provide new allegations.
In another statement, Cosby’s lawyer condemns the “media-driven feeding frenzy†and calls the latest round of allegations “utter nonsense.†As he writes, “People are trying to come up with these wild stories in order to justify why they have waited 40 to 50 years to disclose these ridiculous accusations.â€Â
November 21, 2014
Three more accusers step forward. All tell similar stories: Kristina Ruehli says Cosby spiked her bourbon and tried to force her to perform oral sex in 1965; Picture Pages actress Renita Chaney Hill alleges Cosby drugged and assaulted her multiple times when she was a teenager; and model Angela Leslie contends that Cosby invited her to his Las Vegas hotel room in 1992, got naked, then forced her to masturbate him.
Multiple theaters cancel upcoming appearances by Cosby, including the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and the Virginia Theater in Illinois.
November 22, 2014
The Washington Post publishes the results of a long investigation into the allegations, including an interview with a new accuser: former Playmate Victoria Valentino, who says Cosby drugged and assaulted her and a friend in 1970. “He came over to me and sat down on the love seat and opened his fly and grabbed my head and pushed my head down,†Valentino tells the Post. “And then he turned me over. It was like a waking nightmare.â€
November 23, 2014
Former Cosby Show employee Frank Scotti says he was in charge of delivering payoffs to eight different women. In his words, “It was a coverup.†Scotti also claims that he stood guard outside Cosby’s dressing room while the comedian conducted “interviews†with young models, all supplied by an agency he had an “arrangement†with.
November 24, 2014
Model Jewel Allison accuses Cosby of drugging and assaulting her in the late ‘80s. She recalls accepting a dinner invitation to Cosby’s home, where he poured her a glass of wine. Allison says now she thinks the wine was drugged. “I looked at myself in the mirror and I didn’t look good,†she tells the New York Daily News. “My eyes were all over the place.†She remembers Cosby placing her hand on his penis, kissing her, then calling a cab. “There’s no such thing as Cliff Huxtable,†she says. “There’s just a man named Bill Cosby. He’s a very sick sociopath.â€
Mark Whitaker, author of the recent Cosby biography, apologizes on Twitter for not including the sexual assault allegations in his book.
November 26, 2014
Another Jane Doe comes forward, as former waitress Donna Motsinger accuses Cosby of sexually assaulting her in the 1970s. Motsinger was working as a waitress in the Bay Area when, she says, Cosby asked her to attend one of his shows with him. They shared a drink in a limousine on the way there, after which, she claims, “I didn’t feel right.†Motsinger says she woke up in her bed the next morning wearing only her underwear and knew immediately that she’d been assaulted. “These women are not lying,†she tells ABC7 News. “I’m not lying. It’s God’s honest truth.â€
December 1, 2014
Cosby resigns from his position on Temple’s board of trustees.
December 2, 2014
Judy Huth accuses Cosby of assaulting her when she was 15. Huth claims that she and a friend met Cosby when they wandered onto a movie set in 1974. A week later, she says, the comedian took them to a party at the Playboy Mansion. There, Huth claims Cosby told her to lie about her age; then, when the two were alone, Cosby stuck his hand down her pants and forced her to masturbate him. Huth is the first accuser in nearly a decade to get the legal system involved: She’s suing Cosby for damages based on the “psychological damage and mental anguish†she says she received. Huth cannot file criminal charges against the star, as the alleged incident took place before 1988.
On Twitter, Cosby thanks celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg and Jill Scott for standing by him.
December 3, 2014
At a press conference called by Gloria Allred, Beth Ferrier joins two new accusers: Helen Hayes says Cosby stalked her “like a predator†in 1973 before coming up behind her and grabbing her breast; a woman known only as “Chelan†claims Cosby drugged and assaulted her in a hotel room in 1986. Allred calls for Cosby to either waive the statute of limitations for the allegations against him, or else donate $100 million to fund settlements for the accusers.
December 4, 2014
Cosby files his own lawsuit against Huth, saying she used the threat of a sexual-assault claim to try to extort him. The lawsuit calls Huth’s accusations “meritless and unsupported,†and claims she went public only “after Mr. Cosby rejected plaintiff’s outrageous demand for money.†Cosby and his lawyer also say Huth broke the law by naming him in her lawsuit. They are seeking $33,000 in damages.
Meanwhile, a New York theater cancels two upcoming Cosby performances and the Navy strips Cosby of his honorary chief petty officer designation. In Los Angeles, an unknown vandal scrawls “rapist†on Cosby’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
December 10, 2014
Tamara Green files a defamation lawsuit against Cosby, saying the comedian impugned her reputation when he let his lawyer say she was lying about being sexually assaulted.
December 11, 2014
Model Beverly Johnson accuses Cosby of drugging her in the mid-’80s. Johnson tells Vanity Fair the comedian insisted she try a cappuccino from his home espresso machine; after two sips, she knew it was drugged. Before passing out, she remembers calling Cosby “a motherfucker,†which annoyed him so much he dragged her out of his house and hailed her a cab.
December 13, 2014
In his most direct response to the accusations yet, Cosby tells “Page Six†he expects “the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism [and] go in with a neutral mind.â€
December 15, 2014
Model Chloe Goins accuses Cosby of drugging and assaulting her in 2008, the most recent alleged abuse yet. Goins claims she was attending a party at the Playboy Mansion when Cosby handed her a drink that made her black out. When she came to, she says, she found Cosby licking her toes and touching himself.
Spelman College drops its endowed professor position named after Cosby. The comedian and his wife had previously donated $20 million to the historically black college.
Camille Cosby herself speaks out for the first time. “The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work,†she says in a statement. “A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know.†Cosby also writes that she wishes the media would spend more time vetting her husband’s accusers, comparing his case to the Rolling Stone UVA rape scandal.
December 16, 2014
Cosby’s daughter Evin releases her own statement, which mirrors her mother’s: “He is the father you thought you knew,†she writes, adding that to her family, The Cosby Show was like a “reality show.â€
December 17, 2014
The L.A. County district attorney declines to charge Cosby in Judy Huth’s case, as the statute of limitations has passed. Huth’s civil suit against Cosby is unaffected.
December 19, 2014
A new accuser known only as “Lisa†accuses Cosby of drugging her in 1988. Lisa tells Dr. Phil that Cosby had invited her up to his hotel room for a “mentoring session.†While there, she says, he gave her a drugged drink, then started stroking her hair; she woke up two days later with no memory of what had happened to her.
In a separate statement to USA Today, Cosby’s lawyer disputes the coverage of Cosby’s “black media†quote, saying that “Mr. Cosby did not ask for special treatment from the African-American media. To the contrary, he asked that they adhere to journalistic standards and approach the story in a neutral manner.â€
December 22, 2014
Actress Kathy McKee accuses Cosby of raping her in the early 1970s. McKee says that at the time of the alleged assault, she had known Cosby eight years, and she tells the Daily News she considered him a “buddy.†McKee says she stopped by the comedian’s hotel room one night to bring him some ribs before a party, only to find that he was “like a different person,†immediately ripping her clothes off and raping her. McKee says she never spoke out about the incident, not even to her boyfriend, Sammy Davis Jr.: “I just figured, If I don’t think about it, it won’t bother me.â€
January 4, 2015
In an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, former Cosby Show actress Keshia Knight Pulliam is “fired†for refusing to asking Cosby for money as part of a business challenge. The episode was shot months before the sexual-assault story returned to the news, and airs without any reference to the scandal. After her dismissal, Pulliam defends her TV father: “Unfortunately, in the court of public opinion everyone has formed their opinion, but we’re still in America and you’re innocent until proven guilty of any crimes.â€
January 6, 2015
Cosby Show star Phylicia Rashad joins the ranks of Cosby defenders, saying the accusations are part of a coordinated attack on the comedian. “Forget these women,†she tells reporter Roger Friedman. “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s [about] the legacy.â€
January 7, 2015
Gloria Allred calls another press conference, with three new Cosby accusers: Linda Kirkpatrick says she accepted a drink from Cosby at a party in the 1980s, only to wake up with the comedian on top of her; Lynn Neal says that Cosby “built [her] trust by pretending to be a friend,†then drugged and raped her; and a woman known only as “Kacey†claims that Cosby drugged and assaulted her in 1996, when she was working as an assistant for his agent.
After Allred criticizes her at the press conference, Phylicia Rashad says her “Forget these women†remark was misquoted. “I am a woman,†she tells ABC World News Tonight. “I would never say that.†In the interview, Rashad also reiterates her theory that the accusations are part of a deliberate campaign of character assassination against Cosby.
January 11, 2015
At the Golden Globes, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do a Cosby bit during their monologue. Reaction in the room, and online, is mixed.
January 14, 2015
The LAPD announces that it will investigate Chloe Goins’s claim that Cosby assaulted her in 2008. Her accusation is the first to fall within California’s statute of limitations.
January 26, 2015
Film executive Cindra Ladd accuses Cosby of drugging and assaulting her in 1969. In an essay for the Huffington Post, Ladd claims that the comedian invited her to see a movie, then gave her a pill he said was for headaches. She says she woke up the next morning naked in a strange bed, while Cosby lounged in a bathrobe: “It was obvious to me that he had had sex with me.â€
February 8, 2015
Former Cosby Show actress Helen Gumpel accuses Cobsy of sexually harassing her in the late 1980s. Gumpel claims the comedian invited her on set after her first appearance; when she arrived, she found Cosby waiting in his dressing room, where he gave her a drink, forced her to sit on a couch, and then stood with his crotch uncomfortably close to her face. She refused him, and paid a price: “My career was a victim,†she said.
February 12, 2015
Two more women accuse Cosby of sexually assaulting them. The stories of Linda Brown and Lise-Lotte Lublin are separated by two decades, but they follow a similar spine: Both women say the comedian invited them up to his hotel room, gave them a drink that made them black out, and then assaulted them. “He has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality and if you trust him then he has fooled you as well,†Brown tells a press conference.
February 19, 2015
After Norm Macdonald reveals that Eddie Murphy refused to play Cosby in SNL 40’s Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, Cosby publicly thanks Murphy for his restraint. “I am very appreciative of Eddie,†Cosby says through a spokesperson, “and I applaud his actions.â€
February 24, 2015
Another accuser steps forward. Heidi Thomas claims she met Cosby in 1984, when the comedian flew her out her to Reno, ostensibly for a mentoring session. When she arrived, she claims Cosby instructed her to act drunk, gave her a glass of wine that made her memory “foggy,†and then assaulted her. Now she tells CNN she wants to look the comedian in the eyes and ask him, “Do you remember me?â€
March 3, 2015
One of the Jane Does from Andrea Constand’s 2005 civil lawsuit comes forward. Patricia, whose last name remains undisclosed, tells BuzzFeed that Cosby drugged and raped her twice. In 1978, Patricia says she “blacked out†and woke up naked in Cosby’s guest bedroom in Massachusetts after he made her “pretend to be an elegant queen with oatmeal dripping all over her face.†In 1980, she says she woke up feeling “very sick and knew that someone had penetrated me†after another night with Cosby.
March 27, 2015
In another press conference called by Gloria Allred, two more Cosby accusers come forward with stories of how the comedian drugged and assaulted them. Sunni Welles was 17 years old when met Cosby in the 1960s; her mother worked at Paramount and considered Cosby a family friend. With her mother’s blessing, Welles went to a jazz club with Cosby. After drinking a Coke, she claims things got “blurry,†and she woke up the next morning sure she’d been assaulted. Margie Shapiro says she met Cosby while she was working at a doughnut shop in 1975. She says he took her to a “game house,†where he challenged her to a game of pinball — the loser had to take a pill. She took it, and claims she woke up the next morning naked, with Cosby inside of her. At the press conference, she produced a box of matches that she said she had taken from Cosby’s house earlier that evening.
April 23, 2015
Three more accusers come forward with Allred. Janice Baker-Kinney says she met Cosby in the early ‘80s, at a pizza party thrown by the casino where she worked. She claims he gave her two pills, after which she woke up naked, with the comedian touching her. Before she left, she says, Cosby told her, “This is between you and me.†Marcella Tate was a model who visited the Playboy Mansion with Cosby in 1975. After accepting a drink from him, she says her memories got “cloudy,†and she, too, woke up naked next to Cosby in a strange bed. Autumn Burns, a model and casino employee in the early ‘70s, says Cosby approached her at work and told her he could mentor her. He allegedly invited her up to his room, where he gave her a drink that made her feel “woozy,†then assaulted her.
May 1, 2015
Allred calls a new press conference, where two more accusers tell their stories. Writer Sammie Mays claims she met Cosby at a conference in the mid-’80s. She says she came over for a drink in his hotel room and soon after felt “discombobulated.†When she woke up the next morning, she says, her clothes were in disarray. Actress Lili Bernard says Cosby invited her over in the early ‘90s for what he claimed was a “mentoring session.†She claims the comedian “won [her] complete trust and adoration,†then drugged and raped her. Bernard’s alleged assault took place in New Jersey, which has no statute of limitations for sexual assault; Allred claims she and Bernard reported the incident to police the day before.
May 21, 2015
Janice Dickinson files her own defamation suit against Cosby.
July 6, 2015
After a request from the Associated Press, court documents from Constand’s 2005 lawsuit are released. In Cosby’s testimony, he confirms one accuser’s account that he had sex with her after giving her quaaludes, though he avoided the question of whether he gave her the drugs without her knowledge. Elsewhere in the documents, Cosby admits to offering money to accusers for their “education,†and says he gave The National Enquirer an exclusive interview in exchange for the tabloid not running an interview with Beth Ferrier.
July 18, 2015
The Times releases excerpts from the full transcript of Cosby’s 2005 deposition. In his testimony, Cosby details his process for getting women to sleep with him, which involved approaching women who were professionally or emotionally vulnerable and playing the role of an experienced mentor. Cosby also admits to giving women quaaludes before sex but denies anything unconsensual, telling the court, “I think I’m a pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual things.â€
July 21, 2015
Cosby’s lawyers criticize the media for their coverage of Cosby’s admissions. “Reading the media accounts, one would conclude that defendant has admitted to rape,†attorneys Patrick O’Connor and George Gowen write in a filing to keep the rest of the court records sealed. “And yet defendant admitted to nothing more than being one of the many people who introduced quaaludes into their consensual sex life in the 1970s.†Cosby’s team later asks for sanctions against Andrea Constand for violating the confidentiality agreement she signed after her 2006 settlement.
July 27, 2015
Thirty-five of Cosby’s accusers appear on New York Magazine’s cover, telling their stories of the alleged assaults, the aftermath, and their decisions to come forward. Many of the women say the experience has forged a bond between them — in the words of Joan Tarshis, they now form a “sorrowful sisterhood.
August 12, 2015
Allred calls another press conference with three new accusers. Actress Linda Ridgeway Whitedeer claims Cosby pulled her into a room on a film set and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Former flight attendant Colleen Harris says Cosby took her up to his hotel room, then gave her a glass of Champagne that made her pass out; she woke up covered in semen. Actress Eden Tirl says she was sexually harassed on the set of The Cosby Show, when the comedian pulled her into a tight embrace and told her he was going to “make love†to her.
September 24, 2015
Marquette and Fordham strip Cosby of his honorary degrees.
September 30, 2015
Three more women tell their stories in another press conference called by Gloria Allred. Waitress Sharon Van Ert says she passed out when Cosby gave her a ride home after work one night in 1976. The last thing she remembers is Cosby rubbing her legs; when she awoke, her underwear was gone. Model Pamela Abeyta claims she met Cosby while trying to network with him in 1979. After he allegedly invited her to stay with him in his hotel suite, they had dinner — after dinner, she blacked out. She remembers waking up in Cosby’s hotel bed, not her own. Model Lisa Christie says Cosby spent years mentoring her, then came on to her in a hotel room. When she refused, he allegedly told her, “You’re never going to make it in this business unless you sleep with me.â€
October 11, 2015
Cosby testifies under oath in a depositon for Judy Huth’s lawsuit. According to judge Craig Karlan, the contents of Cosby’s testimony will be sealed until December.
October 15, 2015
Tufts and Goucher revoke Cosby’s honorary degrees, as Renita Hill files another defamation suit against Cosby.
October 19, 2015
Amherst rescinds Cosby’s honorary doctorate, the first time the school has revoked an honorary degree.
October 21, 2015
Cosby fires his longtime lawyer, Marty Singer, who had been one of his most vocal defenders in the press. In response, Huth’s lawyer Gloria Allred says she wants to question Cosby a second time.
October 23, 2015
Two more women accuse Cosby of sexual misdeeds. An actress who identifies herself only as Dottye claims Cosby invited her to his house to audition for the Cosby Show in 1984. While she was there, she says, Cosby gave her a drink, which made her get “foggy — after that, she remembers him taking off her clothes, making her take a shower, and raping her. Donna Barrett says the comedian assaulted her at a track meet at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004, grabbing her from behind and forcing his “private parts†on her.
November 9, 2015
Kristina Ruehli files a federal defamation suit against Cosby.
November 13, 2015
Four more accusers join the federal defamation lawsuit against Cosby.
December 11, 2015
Cosby files his own countersuit against seven of the women suing him for defamation, saying they made “malicious, opportunistic, and false and defamatory accusations of sexual misconduct against him.â€
December 21, 2015
Cosby files another defamation lawsuit, this time against Beverly Johnson. In the lawsuit, Cosby claims Johnson is lying about having been drugged by the comedian while they were alone at his house, and says his wife was with them on the night in question.
December 30, 2015
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County charge Cosby with three counts of sexual assault in the Andrea Constand case, the first criminal charges Cosby has faced since the allegations surfaced. The statute of limitations in the alleged 2004 assault reportedly runs out in January 2016. At his arraignment, Cosby surrenders his passport and is released on $1 million bail.
So far, nearly 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual assault.
This post has been updated throughout.
* This article initially stated that Barbara Bowman’s interview was in a November 2006 Philadelphia magazine interview. The piece was published in June 2006. It also misstated the nature of Kristina Ruehli’s allegations. She says Cosby attempted to force her to perform oral sex, but she was able to escape into a bathroom.