Former Actress of the ‘Cosby Show’ sueing Bill Cosby for ‘no less than $25 Million’

Lili Bernard during Cosby Protest/Getty

Lili Bernard filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby due to alledged sexual assault she claims was committed in 1990. The suit was filed Thursday on a New Jersey Federal Court.

The actress appeared on the Bill Cosby Show as a guest in 1984 for a small segment as Mrs. Minnifield. Thus is where she says she met Bill Cosby and he agreed to be her acting mentor.

Lili Bernard/Getty

In 2015, Bernard was one of the dozen of women who alleged Bill Cosby assaulted her. She recounts a moment in 1990 where she says he allegedly drugged and raped her. Her suit falls under the New Jersey's two-year look back window. This law allows survivors of sexual abuse to bring civil claims against their attacker even if it is outside of the statue of limitations. She is seeking no less than $25 million, according to documents obtained by Yahoo! Entertainment.

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Bernard shares, “I have waited a long time to be able to pursue my case in court and I look forward to being heard and to hold Cosby accountable for what he did to me,” Bernard said in a statement. “Although it occurred long ago, I still live with the fear, pain and shame every day of my life.” 

Bernard, a mother of 6 is being represented by Merson Law, PLLC. She claims she has suffered anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares, severe physical pain, and “other permanent injuries” as a direct result of her alleged assault by Cosby along with various intimidations and threats he issued thereafter. 

According to the lawsuit, Bernard met Cosby on the set of his hit family sitcom, where he offered to become her acting mentor. Cosby allegedly prepared Bernard a non-alcoholic beverage upon their mentor session at the Trump Taj Mahal & Casino in Atlantic City. However, upon ingesting it, she reports that she “began to feel symptoms of dizziness, an urge to vomit, and weakness,” before starting to float in and out of consciousness. She claims to have woken at one point to find Cosby naked on top of her, and recalls telling him “no.” Cosby reportedly gave Bernard money and established return transportation to New York for her the next morning. 

Cosby was released from a Pennsylvania corrections facility in June 2021. He served two years of a three to ten-year sentence on charges in relation to an alleged 2004 assault. The state supreme court overturned his guilty ruling due to a prior “non-prosecution agreement” with a previous prosecutor. It is reported that the prosecution agreement should have prevented him from being charged in the case at all.