Supermodel Janice Dickinson is suing Bill Cosby for defamation

Last November, former supermodel Janice Dickinson became one of the dozens of women who’ve accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct. Dickinson claimed that Cosby raped her, and that his handlers were trying to cover up the accusation by smearing her name.

The second part of that accusation is part of what most of Cosby’s accusers call a disturbing pattern on the comedian’s part. Once a woman comes forward, Cosby and the members of his PR team hire private investigators to dig up any piece of information, no matter how trivial, that might cast the accuser in an unflattering light.

Now, Dickinson is fighting back–by accusing Cosby of defamation and suing him in court. According to papers filed by Dickinson’s attorney,

Janice Dickinson, like over three dozen other Cosby victims, recently publicly disclosed that she was drugged and raped by Bill Cosby. In retaliation, Cosby, through an attorney, publicly branded her a liar and called her rape disclosure a lie with the intent and effect of re-victimizing her and destroying the professional reputation she’s spent decades building.

It’s worth pointing out that, despite the number of accusations against him, Cosby hasn’t been accused of any crimes because the statute of limitations has expired on almost all of the accusations. One notable exception is New Jersey, which has no statute of limitations on crimes relating to sexual assault, and where at least two women are considering bring criminal charges.

So far, 45 women have accused Cosby of some form of sexual impropriety, from attempted fondling to outright rape.
(Photo credits: WENN)