1 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART «fe SULLIVAN, LLP
Christopher Tayback (Bar No. 145532)
christa)^ack@quimiemanuel.com
2
Randa Osman (Bar No. 150798)
randaosman@quinnemanuel.com
3
Justin Griffin (Bar No. 234675)
justingriffin@quinnemanuel.com
4
8 65 South Figueroa Street, 10th Floor
5 Los Angeles, California 90017-2543
Telephone: (213)443-3000
6 Facsimile: (213)443-3100

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DEC 2 1 2015
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7 Attorneys for Plaintiff
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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

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COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

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CASE NO.

12 WILLIAM H. COSBY, JR.
Plaintiff,

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vs.

15 BEVERLY JOHNSON.
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Defendant.

BCS 04 845

COMPLAINT FOR:
1.

DEFAMATION

2.

DEFAMATION PER SE

3.

INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL

 1

Plaintiff William H. Cosby, Jr. (“Mr. Cosby”), by and through his

2 undersigned counsel, brings this action against Defendant Beverly Johnson
3 (“Defendant”) for her false, malicious, opportunistic, and defamatory accusations
4 that Mr. Cosby drugged her.

5
6

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
1.

Mr. Cosby is an internationally known American comedian, actor, and

7 philanthropist. Beginning with his novel television work as a young African

8 American actor on I Spy, the transformative cultural impact of The Cosby Show, and
9 continuing throughout the past half-century as a philanthropist dedicated to
10 promoting social justice issues with his involvement and contributions to causes
11 from education to sickle cell anemia, Mr. Cosby prides himself on the legacy and
12 reputation he has earned throughout his life, particularly as an entertainer and
13 philanthropist. Mr. Cosby is a Grammy Award winner, an Emmy Award winner, a
14 1998 Kennedy Center Honors recipient, and in 2002 Mr. Cosby was awarded the
15 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
16

2.

The honorable legacy and reputation that Mr. Cosby has long

17 cultivated, however, has been tarnished. In late 2014, unsubstantiated and false
18 accusations of sexual assault against Mr. Cosby were reported in the press. Despite
19 the recent barrage of unsubstantiated accusations, Mr. Cosby has never been found
20 liable by any Court for any sexual misconduct.

21

3.

Seeing an opportunity to thrust herself back into the spotlight and

22 attempt to revive her flagging career as a model, actress, and public personality, in
23 December 2014, Defendant joined the campaign to assassinate Mr. Cosby’s
24 reputation and character by willfully, maliciously, and falsely accusing Mr. Cosby

25 of drugging her at his home in New York, and suggesting he did so in an effort to
26 have sex with Defendant. Defendant’s false allegations against Mr. Cosby have
27 been the centerpiece of her attempted resurgence and she has played them to the hilt,

28 repeatedly and maliciously publishing the false accusations in articles, interviews.
-1-

 1 and television appearances. She has recently published a memoir, which makes the
2 same false statements, and has used those false allegations as a basis to generate
3 interest in, and promote sales of, her book.
4

Defendant’s accusations are entirely fabricated, and nothing more than

4.

5 an opportunistic attempt to resuscitate her own career and benefit herself financially

6 from the wave of media attention surrounding her false allegations against
7 Mr. Cosby. Mr. Cosby never drugged Defendant and her story is a lie.

8

5.

Defendant made all of her false accusations against Mr. Cosby with full

9 knowledge of their falsity. Mr. Cosby brings this lawsuit to seek redress for the
10 injury and damages caused by Defendant’s malicious and unlawful conduct.
PARTIES

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6.

Plaintiff William H. Cosby, Jr. is an internationally known American

13 comedian, actor, and philanthropist. Mr. Cosby resides in Massachusetts.
14

7.

Defendant Beverly Johnson is a model, actress, and businesswoman.

15 Defendant resides in California.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE

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8.

This Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendant because she is a

18 resident of and does business in the state of California, and owns real property in the
19 State of California.
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9.

Venue is proper in this county because Defendant does business in this

21 county, and because a substantial part of the alleged events giving rise to
22 Mr. Cosby’s claims occurred in this county, including but not limited to Defendant’s
23 interviews on the Dr. Phil show and Larry King Now, both of which are filmed in
24 Los Angeles.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

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10.

In late 2014, a wave of unsubstantiated accusations of sexual assault

27 against Mr. Cosby were widely reported by the press. Mr. Cosby has never been

28 found liable by any Court for any sexual misconduct or for drugging anyone.
-7-

 1

11.

Beginning in November 2014 and through at least November 2015,

2 Defendant has sought to capitalize on the media frenzy by publishing her own false
3 accusations. Defendant repeatedly, willfully, maliciously, and falsely accused
4 Mr. Cosby of drugging her in the 1980’s. Although Defendant’s allegations are

5 false, she asserted them in an opportunistic attempt to benefit herself financially and
6 generate publicity for herself.
7

12.

Defendant is a public personality and no stranger to making salacious

8 public allegations even before her false assertions about Mr. Cosby. She previously
9 made allegations of abuse against two of her boyfriends, neither of which resulted in
10 charges or any finding of liability.
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13.

Defendant has repeated her lies about Mr. Cosby drugging her to every

12 media publication, newspaper, magazine, or TV show that will hear her, including
13 Vanity Fair, People, The View, Nightline, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, Larry
14 King Now and various online outlets. As intended by Defendant, these false
15 statements have been reported and repeated many times. On information and belief,
16 until Defendant obtained publicity for herself based on her false stories about
17 Mr. Cosby, Defendant’s career was on the wane, and those same media outlets had
18 little or no interest in her.
19

14.

Defendant first began making her false claims that Mr. Cosby drugged

20 her in an attempt to sexually assault her in an article authored by Defendant and

21 published on November 30,2014 by Vanity Fair. In relevant part. Defendant’s
22 statements therein stated:
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• “Cosby’s handlers invited me to a taping of the show so I could get the lay

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of the land and an idea of what my role required. After the taping I met

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all the cast and then met with Cosby in his office to talk a bit about the

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hell I’d been through in my marriage.

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• “I brought my daughter to the next taping I attended. Afterward, Cosby

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asked if I could meet him at his home that weekend to read for the part.
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... When my daughter and I visited Cosby’s New York brownstone,

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his staff served us a delicious brunch. Then he gave us a tour of the

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exceptional multi-level home.

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• “Cosby suggested I come back to his house a few days later to read for

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the part. I agreed, and one late afternoon the following week I

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returned. His staff served a light dinner and Bill and I talked more

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about my plans for the future. After the meal, we walked upstairs to a

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huge living area of his home that featured a massive bar. A huge brass

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espresso contraption took up half the counter.... Cosby said he wanted

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to see how I handled various scenes, so he suggested that I pretend to

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be drunk. ... As I readied myself to be the best drunk I could be, he

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offered me a cappuccino from the espresso machine. I told him I didn’t

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drink coffee that late in the afternoon because it made getting to sleep

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at night more difficult. He wouldn’t let it go. He insisted that his

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espresso machine was the best model on the market and promised I’d

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never tasted a cappuccino quite like this one.... I took a few sips of

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the coffee just to appease him.

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• “I knew by the second sip of the drink Cosby had given me that I’d

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been drugged—and drugged good.... As I felt my body go completely

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limp, my brained switched into automatic-survival mode. That meant

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making sure Cosby understood that I knew exactly what was happening

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at that very moment. ‘You are a motherfucker aren’t you?’ That’s the

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exact question I yelled at him as he stood there holding me, expecting

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me to bend to his will. I rapidly called him several more

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‘motherfuckers.’ By the fifth, I could tell that I was really pissing him

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off. At one point he dropped his hands from my waist and just stood

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there looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

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-A-

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• “What happened next is somewhat cloudy for me because the drug was in

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fuller play by that time. I recall his seething anger at my tirade and then

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him grabbing me by my left arm hard and yanking all 110 pounds of me

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down a bunch of stairs as my high heels clicked and clacked on every

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step. ... It was still late afternoon and the sun hadn’t completely gone

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down yet. When we reached the front door, he pulled me outside of the

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brownstone and then, with his hand still tightly clenched around my arm,

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stood in the middle of the street waving down taxis. When one stopped,

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Cosby opened the door, shoved me into it and slammed the door behind

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me without ever saying a word. I somehow managed to tell the driver my

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address and before blacking out, I looked at the cabbie and asked, as if he

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knew: ‘Did I really just call Bill Cosby ‘a motherfucker?

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• “It took a few days for the drug to completely wear off and soon I had

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to get back to work. I headed to California for an acting audition. Not

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long after arriving, I decided I needed to confiront Cosby for my own

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sanity’s sake.... I dialed the private number he’d given me expecting

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to hear his voice on the other end. But he didn’t answer. His wife did.

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A little shocked, I quickly identified myself to her in the most

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respectful way possible and then asked to speak to Bill. Camille
Cosby] politely informed me that it was very late, 11:00 P.M. and that

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they were both in bed together. I apologized for the late call and

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explained that I was in Los Angeles and had forgotten about the three-

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hour time difference. I added that I would call back tomorrow. I didn’t

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call back the next day or any other day after that.

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15.

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Defendant’s story is unequivocally false and fabricated. Mr. Cosby

26 never drugged Defendant at his home in New York or at any other place or any
27 other time. In fact, the dinner shared by Mr. Cosby and Defendant was at a New

28 York restaurant with Mrs. Cosby present. Defendant and Mr. Cosby never dined

 alone in Mr. Cosby’s home, and never spent any time alone together in Mr. Cosby’s
home ever.
16.

Defendant has told this false tale time and again since the November

30, 2014 article. Each telling includes the lie that Mr. Cosby drugged her, although
other aspects of the story change.
17.

Among Defendant’s other false statements about Mr. Cosby are the

following:
December 11. 2014 Statements on ABC News Nishtline. On
December 11,2014, an interview of Defendant was aired on Nightline and defendant
10 repeated her allegations. The interview was very similar to the November 30th Vanity
Fair article but did not include any mention of Defendant’s daughter being at
12 Mr. Cosby’s home. Defendant again made her false allegation of being drugged
13 stating: “I took a couple sips of the cappuccino and from the first sip, and then the
14 second sip I knew I had been drugged.” This time. Defendant falsely and baselessly

15 raised the specter of potentially being raped, in the context of affirmatively stating that
16 she felt lucky for not being raped - “I feel very lucky that I wasn’t raped, I don’t thmk I
17 was raped.”
B.

18

December 12. 2014 Statements on The View. On December 12,

19 2014, Defendant gave a television interview on The View. Defendant repeated her
20 allegations that Mr. Cosby drugged her at his home in New York virtually verbatim,
though she tweaked the story slightly. This time Defendant claimed that she knew she

22 had been drugged after the “first sip,” when she says, “the room started to spin a little
23 right away, and then I took another sip and then it was coming on like a moving train 24 meaning the drug. And at that moment I knew I’d been drugged.” Defendant again
25 falsely and baselessly suggested in this telling that she might have been raped when she
26 stated “I don’t think so no,” in response to the question of whether she was raped by
27 Mr. Cosby.
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July 7. 2015 Statements in People Magazine. On July 7, 2015,

C.

2 People magazine published an interview with Defendant in which she used her
3 accusations against Mr. Cosby as a pulpit to discuss victim’s rights. Defendant stated
4 that with respect to Mr. Cosby’s “actions against many women, including myself, the

5 most unfortunate thing is the lesson we are teaching children about the worth of a
6 woman’s body.

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Defendant continued, “as this conversation on Cosby’s actions

7 continues, I hope that anyone with kids is thinking of teaching them that no one has the

8 right to another’s body of sexuality.” The clear implication of Defendant’s statements
9 on this occasion are that Mr. Cosby drugged her and perhaps drugged and raped others.
10 which allegations are false.

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D.

Memoir Published on August 25, 2015. On August 25, 2015,

12 Defendant’s memoir titled The Face That Changed It All was published. Defendant
13 devoted an entire chapter to her false account regarding Mr. Cosby, publishing anew
14 her false accusations that Mr. Cosby drugged her at his home in New York:
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As I concentrated on portraying the best drunk I could,
Mr. Cosby made a cappuccino and offered it to me. I
declined ... He kept insisting that I’d neyer had a
cappuccino like this one, and I’d be missing out on
something spectacular. I didn’t want to argue with him
after he’d been so gracious, so against my better judgrnent
I took a few sips, m an instant, Ifelt woozy. I certainly
had enough experience with mood enhancers to know the
way they make you feel, and the room had begun spinning
around me.... As we met in the center of the room, he put
his hands around nw waist, and I put my hand on his
shoulder to ensure I wouldn’t fall down. All of a sudden,
the impact of what was happening to me really set in and I
became enraged. I believed that Mr. Cosby had drugged
me.... Later, I decided to call Mr. Cosby and ask him
what had happened. I used the number he had given me,
and his wife, Camille, answered. She told me that she and
Bill were both in bed, and that was that.
Defendant’s false allegations against Mr. Cosby were, and continue to be, the
centerpiece of the media tour surrounding Defendant’s memoir.
E.

September 10, 2015 Statements on Dr. Phil. On September 10,

2015, Defendant’s interview promoting her memoir appeared on the Dr. Phil show.

28
-7-

 1 Defendant there stated falsely that Mr. Cosby drugged her at his home in New York.
2 Defendant claimed Mr. Cosby invited her to his home to rehearse and offered her a
3 cappuccino, which she initially refused but Mr. Cosby insisted so she eventually
4 graciously drank the cappuccino, which was drugged:

6

Defendant: “I said oh no thank you I don’t drink coffee,
you know and he savs on no you you’re going to loooove
this cappuccino, so he gave me this, cappuccmo.”

7

Dr. Phil: “It was spiked.

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Defendant: “Yes it was.

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Dr. Phil: “And how quickly did you know it was spiked.

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Defendant: “Immediately.

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Dr. Phil: It hit you quick.

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Defendant: Yes. It comes on like a train. Its like, it was
so strong and so powerful.

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Defendant then describes cursing Mr. Cosby out, being “livid,” “outraged and
afraid, scared out of [her] mind” and worrying about “finding a safe place,” then
Mr. Cosby dragging her outside and throwing her into a taxi. This time Defendant
made no mention of possibly being raped, but attempted to add drama to her story
by claiming that she ran into Mr. Cosby in an airport after her memoir was
published in 2015 and considered confronting him, but chose not to because she was
afraid of being arrested:
So everything is fresh, and then I’m in a little airport and
here comes Iw. Cosby walking, boom, boom, boom
[suggesting walking] and you mow when you see
someone and you are going to say hi like you recognize
them, and he went to speak and then went mimes
someone being shocked and retreating and just walked
past me like I didn’t even exist. AndTm thmking that I’m
going to go over there and I’m going to give him a piece
of my mind. I going, ‘Beverly you’re really, really angry
and emotional, youTl be arrested’, so I didn’t say
anything.
This story, like everything else Defendant has claimed about Mr. Cosby is false.
Mr. Cosby was not knowingly at any airport with Defendant in 2015, after

28
o

 1 Defendant published her memoirs. Moreover, Mr. Cosby has suffered from a
2 degenerative eye condition for years which has steadily worsened recently to the
3 point that he for over a year has been legally and functionally blind, such that he
4 could not have seen her or mimicked being shocked about seeing her. This part of
5 Defendant’s story, like all the rest, is false.

F.

6

September 2015 Statements on Larry Kins Now. In September

7 2015, Defendant gave a video interview on the Larry King Now show. Defendant
8 repeated her allegations that Mr. Cosby drugged her at his home in New York:

What happened was, and it’s well documented that I had
gone to me studio a couple times to watch the Cosby
show, I brought my daughter and we watched the taping. I
took my daughter to the brownstone one time, we had
breakfast...,
uicajviasi.... we met family members, the art collection,
collection.
the wonderful brownstone, and then on the fourth visit
where we were supposed to actually rehearse ... I was
going to be on the snow, maybe the reoccurring role of the
sister blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah, and then the
cappuccino.... And it was immediate, as soon as I tpok
the first sip I knew, and then I took a second sip and it was
" I was so dis^pointed
"
■
'. I was like, I mean, it was like
like,
pass out,, where can
where do I go before I pass
, I _go safely
"»oked him dead in the eye
eve and just
iust
before - before that I looked
called him, you know a number of names ....

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17

18.

All of Defendant’s accusations that Mr. Cosby drugged her are entirely

18 false and fabricated. Mr. Cosby never drugged Defendant or tried to sexually
19 assault Defendant at his home in New York or at any other place or any other time.
20

19.

Defendant intentionally made and published the false and defamatory

21 statements with actual malice, knowledge of, and reckless disregard as to the falsity
22 of those statements because Defendant knew that Mr. Cosby never drugged her.
23

FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF

24

(Defamation Per Se)

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20.

Mr. Cosby realleges and incorporates by reference each of the

26 foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.
27

21.

At all relevant times, Mr. Cosby enjoyed the respect, confidence and

28 esteem of his neighbors, as well as others in the community.
_Q.

 1

22.

As set forth above. Defendant published to one or more third parties

2 many false and defamatory statements concerning Mr. Cosby.
3

23.

Defendant intentionally made and published the false and defamatory

4 statements with actual malice, knowledge of, and reckless disregard as to the falsity

5 of those statements because Defendant knew that Mr. Cosby never drugged her.
6

24.

Defendant’s false statements were defamatory because they held

7 Mr. Cosby up to hatred, distrust, contempt, disgrace, scorn, and ridicule among

8 considerable and respectable segments of the community, including from the media
9 coverage and public reaction to Defendant’s false and defamatory statements.
10

25.

Defendant’s false statements were defamatory per se because they

11 falsely impute that Mr. Cosby engaged in criminal conduct.
12

26.

Defendant’s false and defamatory statements have proximately caused

13 and continue to cause Mr. Cosby to suffer substantial injuries and damages
14 including, but not limited to, tamishment of reputation and public image, delay
15 and/or cancellation of pending contracts, shame, mortification, hurt feelings,
16 damages to property, business, trade, profession, and occupation.
17

SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF

18

(Defamation)

19

27.

Mr. Cosby realleges and incorporates by reference each of the

20 foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.

21

28.

At all relevant times, Mr. Cosby enjoyed the respect, confidence and

22 esteem of his neighbors, as well as others in the community.
23

29.

As set forth above. Defendant published to one or more third parties

24 many false and defamatory statements concerning Mr. Cosby.
25

30.

Defendant intentionally made and published the false and defamatory

26 statements with actual malice, knowledge of, and reckless disregard as to the falsity
27 of those statements because Defendant knew that Mr. Cosby never drugged her.

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1 A

 1

31.

Defendant’s false statements were defamatory because they held

2 Mr. Cosby up to hatred, distrust, contempt, disgrace, scorn, and ridicule among
3 considerable and respectable segments of the community, including from the media
4 coverage and public reaction to Defendant’s false and defamatory statements.

5

32.

Defendant’s false and defamatory statements have proximately caused

6 and continue to cause Mr. Cosby to suffer substantial injuries and damages
7 including, but not limited to, tamishment of reputation and public image, delay

8 and/or cancellation of pending contracts, shame, mortification, hurt feelings,
9 damages to property, business, trade, profession, and occupation.
10

THIRD CT.ATM FOR RELIEF

11

(Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress)

12

33.

Mr. Cosby realleges and incorporates by reference each of the

13 foregoing allegations as if fully set forth herein.
14

34.

Defendant intentionally engaged in a campaign to assassinate

15 Mr. Cosby’s reputation and character by willfully, maliciously, and falsely accusing
16 Mr. Cosby of drugging her in an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from
17 her allegations.
18

35.

Defendant’s conduct was extreme and outrageous and beyond all

19 possible bounds of decency because, among other things, falsely accusing another of
20 drugging you with the intent of committing a sexual assault is morally repugnant

21 and subjected Mr. Cosby to severe emotional distress from public ridicule, shame,
22 and contempt of such a nature that no reasonable person could be expected to endure
23 it.
24

36.

As a direct and proximate cause of Defendant’s intentional, extreme,

25 outrageous, and morally repugnant conduct, Mr. Cosby has suffered and continues
26 to suffer from severe emotional distress including, but not limited to, tamishment of
27 reputation and public image, shame, mortification, hurt feelings, and shock and

28 harm to his peace of mind by Defendant’s intentional invasion of Mr. Cosby’s

 1 mental and emotional tranquility and other special and general damages according
2 to proof.
3

37.

The extreme and outrageous conduct of Defendant as alleged herein

4 was malicious, despicable, or oppressive in that Defendant acted with full

5 knowledge of the consequences to Mr. Cosby with the intent to discredit him, harm
6 his reputation, harass, or retaliate against Mr. Cosby with willful, conscious,
7 wanton, and reckless disregard for his rights and for the deleterious consequences
8 and cruel and unjust hardship resulting to Mr. Cosby from the conduct of Defendant.

9 Accordingly, Mr. Cosby is entitled to punitive damages in an amount to be proven at
10 trial.
11

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

12

WHEREFORE, Mr. Cosby respectfully prays for judgment and relief as

13 follows:
14

1.

An award for compensatory damages according to proof, but in an

15 amount no less than the jurisdictional minimum for this Court;
16

2.

An award for punitive damages to the maximum extent permitted by

3.

A permanent injunction enjoining Defendant from continuing to

17 law;

18

19 publish her defamatory statements;
20

4.

An injunction requiring Defendant to publically issue a statement and

21 press release retracting and correcting her defamatory statements, including removal
22 of the chapter on Mr. Cosby from future distribution of Defendant’s memoir and for
23 unsold copies of the Defendant’s memoir with the chapter on Mr. Cosby to be
24 removed from circulation;
25

5.

An award of all costs and fees in this action, including attorneys’ fees

26 and pre- and post-judgment interest; and
27

6.

All other such relief as this Court deems just and proper.

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1

 1
2

DEMAND FOR .nJRY TRIAL
Mr. Cosby hereby demands a jury trial of all issues which are triable to a jury.

3
4 DATED: December 21,2015

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QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART &
SULLIVAN, LLP
By
Christoph
Attorneys for Plaintiff William H. Cosby, Jr.