Bill Cosby Ordered to Pay $60M Over 1972 Sexual Assault Claim

A California civil jury has awarded a woman who accused Bill Cosby of sexual abuse some $60 million for an incident that allegedly occurred more than fifty years ago. 

According to NBC News, Donna Motsinger accused Cosby of sexual battery, claiming that the famed comedian abused her while she worked as a server at a Northern California restaurant in 1972.  She was awarded $59.52 million, which includes $40 million in punitive damages, and the rest in past and future non-economic damages, from a lawsuit filed in 2023.

“This verdict is not just about me — it’s about finally being heard and holding Mr. Cosby accountable,” Motsinger said in a statement via her attorneys. 

“I have carried the weight of what happened to me for more than 50 years. It never goes away. Today, a jury saw the truth and held him accountable. That means everything. I hope this gives strength to other survivors who are still waiting for their moment to be heard,” she said.

Cosby, 88, denied the allegations and was reportedly “deeply saddened” by the verdict, which he said sets a dangerous precedent “to allow decade-old allegations, presented without evidence or proof, to stand,” NBC News reports. 

According to the lawsuit, Motsinger claims that she met Cosby at the Sausalito restaurant where she worked. He invited Motsinger to attend one of stand-up shows at a theater south of San Francisco.

Motsinger claims in her lawsuit that the two rode in a limo to the Circle Star Theater and Cosby gave her a glass of wine and shortly after drinking it, she began to feel sick. Cosby, Motsinger claims that Cosby gave her what she believed was an aspirin, which she took. 

“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine with Mr. Cosby,” the suit states.

She awoke at her home, undressed, wearing only her underwear. 

“She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” the suit alleges.

NBC News notes that “dozens of women have publicly accused Cosby of sexual misconduct, including a college sports administrator in Pennsylvania who said he drugged and raped her in 2004.” 

In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault following allegations made by women in Pennsylvania. In 2021, that case was overturned after the state Supreme Court found that he was denied protection against self-incrimination. 

In 2023, several women in Nevada accused Cosby of sexual assault and those cases remain pending.

Cosby has consistently denied all allegations of sexual abuse. Still, social media quickly condemned him for his decades of alleged behavior.

See the reactions below.