Supermodel Johnson Alleges Cosby Drugged Her At His Manhattan Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Supermodel Beverly Johnson says when she went to rehearse a scene for the "Cosby Show" in the 1980s, legendary comedian Bill Cosby instead tried to drug her.
"He kept insisting to have this cappuccino. 'It's the best coffee you'll ever have.' So I relented and I took the coffee," Johnson said in a nationally broadcast interview this week.
In the mid-1980s, Johnson was trying her hand at acting, and said Cosby invited her to his East Side townhouse to rehearse a scene for his top-rated television show.
But Johnson said Cosby instead served her spiked cappuccino, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported Friday.
"I took another sip of the cappuccino and that drug was so powerful it just came on like a moving train and I knew I had been drugged," Johnson said.
Johnson said she doesn't think Cosby assaulted her, but claims he dragged her out of his house and put her in a cab.
But not before Johnson said she repeatedly swore at him.
"I called him an (expletive) I said, 'You're an (expletive), aren't you?'" Johnson said. "I wanted him to know that I knew that he drugged me."
Johnson was one of the original supermodels, appearing on more than 500 magazine covers in her career. She said days after the incident she called Cosby to confront him but his wife, Camille, answered and told Johnson to call back. She never did.
When asked why she's coming forward, Johnson said, "It was the women that have come forward that gave me the courage to come forward. Then to hear their stories that were very similar to mine, I knew that I had to say something."
Johnson, now 62, said she understands why women were reluctant to challenge Cosby, one of the most powerful men in television.
"Now that I speak to other people in the business in Hollywood, it's one of the best-kept secrets in Hollywood. I most certainly had … I would not have gone to his home if I had known he had that kind of reputation -- absolutely not."
Johnson has joined more than 20 women who have accused Cosby. His lawyer did not respond to calls for comment on this story.
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