Bill Cosby now has claims against him from at least 15 women with varying charges of sexual assault, and now someone else has come forward who claims to have knowledge of his past.
A 90-year-old ex-NBC employee by the name of Frank Scotti who worked as a facilities manager for the Brooklyn NBC Studio where “Cosby Show” was filmed is the latest to go public with stories of Bill Cosby’s past.
Frank Scotti has claimed in a statement to the New York Daily News that he arranged for monthly payments and more for eight women during “The Cosby Show’s” run from 1984-1992, and that some of those women received as much as $2,000 at any given time.
“He had everybody fooled,” Scotti said to the Daily News. “Nobody suspected.”
During the time period when all of this allegedly occurred, Scotti claims that he provided copies of money orders to four women and he also said that Cosby instructed Frank to put his own name on them.
Scotti says he recalls when Cosby presented him with “a satchel of money, all $100 bills,” and pressed Scotti to distribute the payments using money orders in his own name.
“I did a lot of crazy things for him,” recalled Scotti. “He was covering himself by having my name on it. It was a coverup. I realized it later.”
One of the women who have made claims of rape against Cosby, Shawn Thompson, reportedly received more than $100,000 after their alleged affair started in 1974. Autumn Jackson, who is the daughter of Shawn Thompson, has claimed that Cosby is her father, a claim which Cosby himself has flatly denied.
One of the women whose name is on the receipts has reached out to the Daily News and in doing so she has claimed that the payments funded her son’s private school tuition. Mr. Scotti said he is confident that Cosby was sexually involved with the women receiving payments, and he’s only coming forward now because he “felt sorry for the women.”
“Why else would he be sending money?” Scotti asked. “He was sending these women $2,000 a month. What else could I think?”
Cosby’s attorney, Martin Singer, is denying the allegations made by Frank Scotti saying “What evidence does he have of Mr. Cosby’s involvement? How would Scotti know if a woman was a model or a secretary? It appears that his story is pure speculation so that he can get his 15 minutes of fame.”
NBC has declined comment on the story thus far but in light of these allegations, the network has cancelled a project with him. It has also been reported that NetFlix has postponed a Cosby stand-up special and TV Land has cancelled all Cosby Show re-runs, even going so far as to remove any mention of Cosby on the website.
Sources: Yahoo!, NY Daily News
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