Did Bill Cosby try to rape Chelsea Handler?

Did Bill Cosby try to rape Chelsea Handler? A decade ago, Handler and Cosby were performing at the same time in Atlantic City. Then, as Handler recounts for a new Esquire magazine interview, things threatened to get weird…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Bill Cosby has been accused–yet again–of another accosting. This time, the almost-victim was comedian Chelsea Handler, who, with Nick Offerman, graces the cover of this month’s Esquire “Women and Men” issue. There’s a long and winding and funny interview with the pair inside the issue–and, contained in that interview, is Handler’s description of the time Bill Cosby tried to “Cosby” her when the two were performing in Atlantic City.

In Chelsea’s own words:

Oh, I was in Atlantic City playing, doing stand-up, and he was doing stand-up in Atlantic City in the same hotel, and at like three o’clock in the afternoon, someone from the hotel came down and said, “Oh, you know, Mr. Cosby would really like to meet you up in his hotel suite.” And I thought, That’s really weird. This was like ten years ago. And I said, That’s really weird. I don’t want to go alone. I go, I don’t know him. So the three guys I was with—thank God these guys were with me. One was filming and one was like a producer; we were filming something—I brought them up with me to his room and thank God I did, because now I know what would’ve happened if I went up there alone. And I forgot about it when all the stories about Bill Cosby came out. I was like, I didn’t even think of it. Then my friend texted me the other day saying, “Do you remember that night we went up to, or that afternoon we went up to Bill Cosby’s and you were so freaked out you made us come with you?” And I said, Yeah, and he said, “Hello! You could’ve been one of his victims if we weren’t there.” And I went, “Oh my gosh…” Yeah, so yeah, he’s guilty.

In related news, the complete (and non-Chelsea) list of Cosby accusers is 39 women. You can read the full list here.

(Photo credit: Did Bill Cosby try to rape Chelsea Handler via Instagram)