PITTSBURGH (AP) – A woman who appeared on an educational children’s TV show as a teenager with Bill Cosby has sued him, saying he defamed her after she gave an interview claiming he sexually abused her in the 1980s.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by 48-year-old Renita Hill, of Baldwin, says Cosby helped pay for her college tuition and housing until she broke off contact with him in 1987 after years of abuse.
Hill is one of more than two dozen women to accuse Cosby of similar abuse dating to the 1960s, though only a few have sued him. Hill is the fourth to sue him for defamation. Another woman, a former employee at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University, sued, claiming he abused her while acting as a mentor. She settled her lawsuit out of court in 2006.
According to the newest lawsuit, Hill was 16 when she met Cosby during a 1983 talent search for “Picture Pages,” which he hosted.
Cosby hired her and shortly afterward began flying her to cities where he was performing, including Denver, Atlantic City, New Jersey, and New York. There, he’d give her alcohol she believes was laced with drugs and molest her in hotel rooms he provided, the lawsuit said.