Astoria's Kaufman Studios Let Bill Cosby Abuse Women, Lawsuit Alleges

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Employees at Kaufman Astoria Studios looked the other way while the comedian Bill Cosby sexually abused women during the peak of his "Cosby Show" fame, in some cases assaulting them within the studio itself, where the sitcom was filmed, according to a new lawsuit.

The suit was filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court by five women who say they were assaulted by Cosby. They say that Kaufman Studios, along with NBC and the production company Carsey-Werner, are "culpable and liable" for the abuse by letting it take place under their watch.

Four of the five women's claims touch on the Astoria film studio, where "The Cosby Show" was recorded starting early in its seven-year run that began in 1984. (Kaufman's website still lists Cosby as one of the actors that have "graced" its stages.)

Patch does not typically identify victims of sexual assault, but all five publicly identified themselves in the complaint and have previously made public allegations against Cosby.

One accuser, Eden Tirl, met Cosby in 1989 at Kaufman Studios after a taping of the show, the lawsuit says. The next day, she was abruptly offered a role as a police officer on the show despite having never auditioned for it, she says.

Despite her minor role, Tirl was offered a car service to the studio and a private dressing room, according to the lawsuit. At Kaufman, a show employee began repeatedly urging Tirl to have lunch with Cosby in his own dressing room, in some cases grabbing her by the arm and escorting her there when she refused, she alleges.

Though she typically snuck out of the dressing room before Cosby could arrive, the comedian showed up on the fourth such occasion, locked the door behind her, then "touched her breasts and without her consent forcibly pressed his penis" into her back, the lawsuit alleges.

Though she felt threatened, Tirl had believed Cosby would not harm her, since "the busy hallway outside" was filled with employees from Kaufman, NBC and Carsey-Werner, the suit says.

Another plaintiff, Lili Bernard, said she met Cosby on the "Cosby Show" set in 1990, where he offered to mentor her. In the ensuing years, he drugged and raped her multiple times, she alleges.

A third accuser, Jewel Gittens, said she met Cosby often on the sitcom set during the 1980s after he offered to mentor her. Once, an on-set employee offered her a beverage at Cosby's instruction, which he claimed was coffee, but which Gittens thought "smelled weird," causing her to discard it, she says.

In another instance, Cosby drugged Gittens with a glass of wine at his Manhattan home and then assaulted her, the suit alleges.

The other two plaintiffs are Jennifer Thompson, who said Cosby assaulted her at his home shortly after she turned 18; and Cindra Ladd, who met Cosby as a social acquaintance in 1969 and says he drugged and raped her after inviting her to a movie.

The suit alleges negligence by Kaufman and the other defendants, whom the plaintiffs say were responsible for keeping them "safe from sexual abuse."

"Bill Cosby used the power and role bestowed upon him by Kaufman Astoria, Carsey-Werner, and NBC to prey upon and sexually abuse women at Kaufman Astoria's facility and elsewhere," the suit says.

Kaufman Astoria Studios did not respond to a request for comment. The studio was sold to two venture capital firms last year.

A representative for Cosby called the lawsuit "frivolous" in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, dismissing it as "ALL ABOUT MONEY."

The suit was made possible by New York's Adult Survivors Act, enacted this year, which creates a one-year suspension of the statute of limitations to allow victims to revive civil lawsuits related to sex crimes.

Cosby, 85, was convicted of sexual assault in 2018 and imprisoned until last year, when his conviction was vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.