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Model Beverly Johnson is sharing her Bill Cosby story.
It happened in the “mid-80s,” she says in a first person essay in
Vanity Fair. And it sounds similar to many of the stories we’ve heard
from women who have been accusing the star of drugging them and then
sexually assaulting them.
Johnson starts by recalling being “in awe” of Cosby in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.
“He was funny, smart, and even elegant—all those wonderful things many
white Americans didn’t associate with people of color.”
She was thrilled when one day an agent called her to invite her to
audition for a role onThe Cosby Show. She went to a taping and met
Cosby. He invited her to his home. She had one pleasant visit and he
invited her to come over again.
That next time didn’t go as smoothly.
Cosby offered her a cappuccino from the espresso machine on his bar.
“I told him I didn’t drink coffee that late in the afternoon because
it made getting to sleep at night more difficult. He wouldn’t let it
go.
He insisted that his espresso machine was the best model on the market
and promised I’d never tasted a cappuccino quite like this one.
“It’s nuts, I know, but it felt oddly inappropriate arguing with Bill
Cosby so I took a few sips of the coffee just to appease him.”
And that moment, she knew.
“Now let me explain this: I was a top model during the 70s, a period
when drugs flowed at parties and photo shoots like bottled water at a
health spa,” says Johnson. “I’d had my fun and experimented with my
fair share of mood enhancers. I knew by the second sip of the drink
Cosby had given me that I’d been drugged—and drugged good.”
She says he motioned for her to come to him, as though acting out a scene.
“He put his hands around my waist, and I managed to put my hand on his
shoulder in order to steady myself. As I felt my body go completely
limp, my brain switched into automatic-survival mode. That meant
making sure Cosby understood that I knew exactly what was happening at
that very moment.”
She called him a “mother—–.”
And she kept on yelling at him, she says. He didn’t like it.
It’s not easy doing the right thing sometimes!!! Thank you for your
love & support Break the Silence of Sexual Abuse!— Beverly Johnson
(@BeverlyJohnson1) December 11, 2014
Credit: USA TODAY
