Is Bill Cosby, one of the most loved father figures in television, a rapist?
According to artist and former actress Barbara Bowman, he is.
During an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Bowman revealed that the comedian had emotionally and sexually abused her as a teenager.
Bowman claims that she was drugged and repeatedly raped by the man who manipulated her into trusting him.
“I was drugged and raped by that man,” she said. “He is a monster. He came at me like a monster. My hope is that others who have experienced sexual abuse will not be intimidated into silence by the famous, rich and powerful. If I can help one victim, then I’ve done my job.”
Bowman said that she met Cosby through her agent J.F. Images when she was 17 years old, and he served as her mentor from then on. She said she knew that something wasn’t right with their mentor/mentoree relationship, but didn’t want to fall back in her acting career.
“I knew something was wrong, that this was a twisted situation, but if I resisted, I was failing him and failing my good fortune. He was a pot of gold and I needed to take good care of it,” she explained.
Hannibal Buress Calls Bill Cosby a "Rapist" http://t.co/BrmjsIM4vz
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 21, 2014
Bowman said that she is now coming forward in hopes that she can help others who have been the victim of abuse.
“I’m finally revealing all of my full story in hopes that others will learn to read the tell-tale signs of abuse and not wait as long as I did,” Bowman said. “No one believed me for years. They said Bill would never do that. That it was preposterous. But I’m putting my name out there and standing behind these words, just like Burress. No more code of silence.”