CNN brought five women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault and rape to its studios on Monday where Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota interviewed them on a special titled “The Cosby Show: A Legend Under Fire.”
The five women included Joan Tarshis, Barbara Bowman, Kristina Ruehli, Patty Mastin and Victoria Valentino.
“He’s a fake. He’s a pretender, and behind that he’s a sociopath,” said Kristina Ruehli, who claimed the comedian drugged her and sexually assaulted her in 1965.
At one point Lemon asked the accusers whether they thought about what Cosby must be enduring right now, but Ruehli wasn’t sympathetic.
“I don’t care,” said Ruehli. “As long as It’s long and painful and I think that he never cared what happened to us.
“We suffered collectively, hundreds of years and horrible constant emotional strife,” added P.J. Masten, who claimed that she — along with other Playboy Bunnies — was raped by Cosby. “I want him to suffer — suffer like we’ve all suffered.”
Joan Tarshis, who claimed Cosby raped her twice in 1969, said coming forward has taken a physical toll on her: “I’m having nightmares, waking up at two or three in the morning, thinking something would happen.”
Former Playmate Victoria Valentino claimed Cosby drugged and raped her in 1970 while she was grieving over the loss of her child. “Did he ever think of me and my child? And what it meant for me to lose my only child. In four months of my child drowning,” she said.
While the accusations of rape and sexual assault are mounting against Cosby — well over 20 to date — the women are frustrated as they’re sometimes met with skepticism. Tarshis can’t comprehend the mathematics behind why so many people are siding with Cosby.
“Are all of these women lying?” she asked. “And one person telling the truth? Or is one person lying and all these women telling the truth?”
“We’re very very grateful to be here and to be heard,” said Barbara Bowman, who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by the comedian in 1985. “It’s so important to keep talking and explaining… I hope that we are creating a new platform for those people [with no voice] to say I’m not alone and I don’t need you anymore.”
“This was important. There are a lot of things to be said about power and the abuse of it,” Ruehli added. “I didn’t need to do this for any reason whatsoever, except to support and encourage others.”
Watch excerpts from the special.
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