Former film executive Cindra Ladd says Bill Cosby drugged, raped her

A former film executive-turned-philanthropist has come out in a new essay, accusing Bill Cosby of drugging then raping her in the late 1960s.

Cindra Ladd recounts the alleged incident, which she says took place in New York in 1969 when she was 21 years old while working for film producer Ray Stark. She recalls one night when she and Cosby (then 32 years old and one of the "most likable and popular entertainers in the business") had plans to go to a movie -- but the evening didn't go as planned.

"We agreed to meet at an apartment that he said belonged to a friend of his. I had a terrible headache but didn't want to cancel the evening. He told me he had a miracle cure his doctor had given him that would get rid of the headache," Ladd writes about Cosby who was married to his current wife by that time. "He went into another room and came back with a capsule. I asked a couple of times what it was. Each time he reassured me, asking, 'Don't you trust me?' Of course I did. This was Bill Cosby."

What happens next is unclear, writes Ladd.

"For more than 45 years I have tried to recall exactly what happened that night. To this day it remains a blur. I have a vague recollection of feeling like I was floating while walking through Times Square and watching some kind of Japanese samurai movie with him. I don't remember where the theater was nor very much of the evening," she explains.

"What I do recall, vividly and clearly, is waking up the next morning nude in the bed of his friend's apartment and seeing Cosby wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe and acting as if there was nothing unusual. It was obvious to me that he had had sex with me," Ladd continues. 'I was horrified, embarrassed and ashamed. There was a mirror above the bed, which shocked me further."

Ladd notes that this is the first time she's spoken out about "that night," adding, though, that she has no plans to talk publicly, file a lawsuit or hold a press conference.

She decided to come forth, she explains, "because it's the right thing to do."

Ladd is the latest in a string of women who have accused the 77-year-old entertainer of drugging or raping them -- or both. As a result, Cosby has seen his career take a major turn, with an upcoming TV series getting pulled and several comedy gigs getting canceled. He's stayed largely mum on the matter, though at one recent stand-up gig he made a joke about the allegations.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who starred on "The Cosby Show," recently spoke up about the allegations, telling Billboard magazine, "He's one of my mentors, and he's been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor. Just as it's painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it's just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this."

Go here to read Ladd's entire essay.