Last week, now 55-year old Judy Huth filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby alleging that the comedian molested her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was just 15 years old. Now, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, a long-time friend of Cosby, has spoken out.
In a statement, the 88-year old expressed what he felt about the allegations and declared that regardless of who is involved, he would not tolerate such a behavior. Hefner and Cosby have been friends for decades. Cosby had been emceeing most of the annual Playboy Jazz Festival from 1979 to 2012.
"Bill Cosby has been a good friend for many years and the mere thought of these allegations is truly saddening," Hefner said. "I would never tolerate this kind of behavior, regardless of who was involved."
Huth alleges that she and a friend who was 16 year-old at the time of the alleged assault met Cosby on a set of a movie being filmed at a park in Los Angles. A week later, they got an invitation to the comedian's tennis club, where he served them alcohol and got them to play billiards that involved them having to drink a beer every time Cosby wins a game.
Cosby then reportedly brought the girls to the Playboy Mansion telling them to lie about their age in case somebody asks. Huth said that she eventually went with Cosby to a bedroom, where the comedian sexually assaulted her.
More than 15 women already accuse Cosby of sexual assault, most of whom were young, white women who did not have their family nearby. In most of these cases, the 77-year old comedian's lawyers and publicists questioned the credibility of the accusers.
In Huth's case, Cosby's attorney Martin Singer said that the accuser and her attorney Marc Strecker attempted to extort money from Cosby.
"These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years," Singer said in a statement.
Huth said that she is suing Cosby because of the severe and extreme emotional distress the event has caused her. The woman, who also seeks for punitive damages, said it took her a long time to file a lawsuit because she was mentally scarred and only recently attributed the alleged incident to her psychological problems.
