Three Cosby Accusers Step Forward, Demand $100 Million Fund for Alleged Victims 
 
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 Three more women are speaking out to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. At a press conference on Wednesday, L.A. attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing the accusers, demanded Cosby place $100 million in a fund for his alleged victims and allow a panel of retired judges to decide whether the women's claims have merit or not.Allred – a civil-rights lawyer often in the headlines for cases involving women's rights and celebrities – proposed that Cosby should waive the statute of limitations on sexual assault claims, which would permit the women to file lawsuits against the beleaguered comedian."It could be advantageous for Mr. Cosby to give up the statute of limitations because there is a huge cloud on his reputation and legacy," she said.Cosby's attorney, Martin Singer, has blasted the wave of new accusations against Cosby. "These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous," he said in a statement on Nov. 21.Allred told reporters that she had been approached by a number of women who claimed that Cosby either drugged or sexually assaulted them. "Many of those alleged victims contacted me to determine if they had any legal rights that they could assert against Mr. Cosby," she said. "Unfortunately, with a rare exception, I had to inform these women that it was too late for them to file a lawsuit against Mr. Cosby because of the statute of limitations.""If Mr. Cosby believes all the women are being untruthful, then this is his opportunity to prove it," she added. "What could be fairer than that?"In a statement provided by Allred, the three accusers all said they met Cosby in the '70s or '80s. Beth Ferrier, a Colorado native who first spoke to PEOPLE in 2006 when she supported a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand against Cosby and told PEOPLE last month she felt "there needs to be an outcry" over Cosby's behavior, said she was an aspiring actress and model when she met Cosby through her then-agent in New York City in the mid-'80s and began an affair. After she broke up with him, he called her in Denver and invited her to one of his performances. While she was backstage, Ferrier alleges, Cosby spiked her cappuccino. "The next thing I knew, hours had passed, and I woke up in the back of my car alone. My clothes were a mess; my bra was undone. My car was in the alleyway behind the venue. I felt confused and disoriented. I had no idea what happened to me. The last memory I had was drinking Mr. Cosby's coffee."Ferrier said two security guards drove her home at Cosby's request. That same night, Ferrier said she drove to Cosby's hotel to confront him. "Mr. Cosby's explanation for what happened was that '[I] had too much to drink.' I did not believe him. I had not consumed any alcohol that night. I believe that Mr. Cosby drugged me in order to sexually assault me that night."Ferrier said she told the National Enquirer about her assault in 2005 and passed a lie detector test. However, she said, the paper didn't publish her story and instead ran an exclusive interview with Cosby, who denied all the allegations.Helen Hayes said she met Cosby in 1973 while attending Clint Eastwood's Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Pebble Beach, California. She said Cosby groped her right breast at a restaurant later that night. "I was stunned and angry because he had no right to do that and I did not know why he would behave that way," she said. "His behavior was like that of a predator.The third alleged victim, identified only by a first name, Chelan, said she met Cosby in Las Vegas in 1986 when she was 17 and working at the Hilton as a bell dispatcher at the bell desk. Chelan alleged Cosby invited her to his suite so he could introduce her to someone from the Ford modeling agency. There, she said, he gave her a blue pill he said was an antihistamine with a double shot of Amaretto.Chelan said Cosby walked her to the bedroom and began sexually assaulting her. "I could not open my eyes. I couldn't move or say anything. I felt something warm on my legs. Then I blacked out."She said she woke up hours later to Cosby clapping his hands and saying, "Daddy says wake up." He then gave her $1,500 to buy something nice for her and her grandmother, she said. ||||| Bill Cosby's biggest threat isn't the many women who are now coming forward to accuse him of sexual abuse from years ago. Instead, Bill Cosby's biggest danger is Bill Cosby. 
 
 The comedian is now facing a lawsuit from Tamara Green, who claims that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby when she tried to help him find investors for a club in the 1970s. The woman isn't suing Cosby for the abuse but rather what's been said in recent months about the incident. In a defamation lawsuit being handled by a trial attorney who once represented Paula Jones against Bill Clinton, Green asserts that her reputation was hurt by being called a liar by Cosby through his publicist and lawyer. (The full complaint is below.) 
 
 The defamation claim figures to be tough, but it's not the impossible claim that's recognized by none other than Gloria Allred. 
 
 Last week, Allred held a press conference with three Bill Cosby accusers and made a proposal that Cosby waive the statute of limitations to remove the biggest stumbling block to sexual abuse claims. Allred said that her proposal would be fair to Cosby because it would give him the opportunity to test the merits of accusations. 
 
 Cosby didn't take the bait. He's remained silent in the past week, and his attorney hasn't responded to our request for comment on that offer. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cosby's reps have fired back at the one woman, Judy Huth, who dared to try out a sexual abuse claim. Huth's attorney seems to think he's found a loophole in the statute of limitations conferred to sexual battery claims in a section of California law that allows for the recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse discovered in the past three years. Huth will have to explain how it is exactly that she suffered "significant problems throughout her life" and yet only "discovered" the psychological injuries within the past three years. Cosby is demanding sanctions for the filing of the lawsuit, which pretty much explains why even an aggressive attorney such as Allred wouldn't dare sue Cosby for misbehavior that may have happened so long ago. 
 
 So if suing Cosby for sexual abuse is off the table, what's left? That's where Cosby's own actions now come into play. 
 
 One possibility is that Cosby might trip himself up by breaching any confidentiality obligations he has from prior settlements. 
 
 It's worth noting the peculiar statements by Cosby's lawyers in reaction to the many allegations. For instance, when this all went viral, one of Cosby's lawyers put out a statement that said, "Over the last several weeks, decades-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced." A few days later, Cosby's lawyer put out a joint statement with lawyers for Andrea Constand, an accuser who settled with the comedian in 2006. It said, "The statement released by Mr. Cosby's attorney over the weekend was not intended to refer in any way to Andrea Constand." In other statements, Cosby's lawyers have emphasized "new, never-before-heard claims … brand new claims … new women who just came forward … a new uncorroborated story." 
 
 A bit of an educated guess at the PR/legal strategy of Cosby's reps: They have no problem slamming those, like Janice Dickinson, who are coming forward publicly for the first time, and they will gladly attack the "media's breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration," but what they don't want to do is to give accusers cause to make an end-around on the statute of limitations and any settlements that might have previously been made. 
 
 In other words, if Cosby says an accuser isn't telling the truth — and yes, just because 19 women come forward with similar stories doesn't mean that #20 is being honest — he risks being sued for defamation. 
 
 Witness Green's new lawsuit against Cosby. 
 
 The complaint filed in Massachusetts federal court by attorney Joseph Cammarata says that Cosby undressed himself during the incident, took advantage of her and only stopped after Green upended a table lamp. Afterward, Cosby is said to have left two $100 bills on a coffee table. But the claim for defamation is premised on a Newsweek story that told of Green's claims and carried a comment by David Brokaw, Cosby's publicist, that according to the complaint "stated by innuendo, implied, and/or insinuated, that Defendant Cosby's drugging and sexual assault against Plaintiff Green never occurred, and therefore that Plaintiff Green lied and was a liar." 
 
 Here's the Newsweek story about Green. At the very end, a comment from Cosby's publicist appears. It says, "This is a 10-year-old, discredited accusation that proved to be nothing at the time, and is still nothing." 
 
 The lawsuit also mentions the response by Cosby lawyer Walter Phillips Jr. to a story in The Washington Post about Cosby's legacy in the wake of the scandal. The attorney commented, "Mr. Cosby does not know the name Tamara Green or Tamara Lucier [her maiden name], and the incident she describes did not happen." 
 
 Time will tell whether the comments really amount to labeling the plaintiff a liar, whether Cosby is responsible for statements made by his reps and whether the reps knew or should have known that their responses were false. But at the very least, it's a public example of why in the midst of a media frenzy over the allegations, Cosby has chosen to remain silent about claims. Awkward maybe, but there's probably some purpose. 
 
 Email: Eriq.Gardner@THR.com 
 
 Twitter: @eriqgardner ||||| Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter 
 
 NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBSMiami/AP) — Although Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case in Pennsylvania ended in a mistrial, the comedian’s civil lawyers still are fighting lawsuits against him by 10 women around the country. 
 
 Currently, seven women have defamation suits pending in Massachusetts, while three more have defamation or sexual battery suits pending in California. Cosby has denied any wrongdoing. 
 
 The criminal case against Cosby partly stems from the accuser’s related lawsuit. Prosecutors reopened a criminal investigation and filed charges in 2015 after Cosby’s deposition in the woman’s 2005 lawsuit was unsealed, and they realized the 12-year statute of limitations for felony sexual assault had not yet expired. 
 
 A recap of the pending civil cases: 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 Cosby is being sued in Los Angeles by Judy Huth, who accuses the comedian of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974, when she was 15. A trial date may be set later this month for the sexual battery case. Cosby has given a sealed deposition in the case. Huth’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, says the scheduling of a second deposition was on hold because of the criminal trial. 
 
 Chloe Goins, a former model who claims Cosby drugged and sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, is also suing the comedian on sexual battery and other claims. Prosecutors rejected filing a case against Cosby based on Goins’ allegations, which they said investigators could not corroborate. A judge recently denied Cosby’s motion to dismiss the case, and a trial has been scheduled for June 2018. 
 
 The comedian also faces a defamation lawsuit by model Janice Dickinson, who claims Cosby drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe, California, in 1982. Cosby is appealing a ruling allowing Dickinson’s case to proceed. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Seven women are suing Cosby for defamation in separate lawsuits pending in Massachusetts, where Cosby has a home in Shelburne Falls. They say he sexually abused them decades ago and then defamed them after they went public by having his agents deny the claims and brand them liars. 
 
 An eighth woman withdrew her lawsuit. And a federal judge dismissed a ninth accuser’s case, finding her complaint inadequate. 
 
 The remaining plaintiffs are Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie. Cosby is seeking to have their cases dismissed. Serignese and Bowman attended the criminal trial near Philadelphia. 
 
 (TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) ||||| UPDATED, 5:03 PM: The strategy of Bill Cosby’s new lawyers is becoming clear: attack the accusers. With dozens and dozens of women alleging that the comedian sexually assaulted or drugged them over the decades, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan today went after Beverly Johnson for defamation. This comes less than a week after Cosby’s team did the same thing to seven women in federal court in Massachusetts. 
 
 Today’s filing against model and actress Johnson in Los Angeles Superior Court (read it here) seeks punitive damages and an injunction preventing her from “continuing to publish her defamatory statements.” Johnson said, initially in a Vanity Fair article and in subsequent interviews, that Cosby drugged her with spiked cappucino at his New York home during the 1980s. It claims she “is no stranger to making salacious allegations even before her false allegations about Mr.Cosby. She previously made allegations of abuse against two of her boyfriends, neither of which resulted in charges or any finding of liability.” It adds that Johnson “has repeated her lies about Mr. Cosby drugging her to every media publication, newspaper, magazine or TV show that will hear her,” including The View, Dr. Phil and Good Morning America. 
 
 PREVIOUSLY, December 14: The once-beloved comedian today says that Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis, and Angela Leslie cost him his comeback. In a court documents Monday, the widely accused Bill Cosby asserts he “neither drugged nor sexually assaulted” the seven women. In fact, Cosby now is suing them back in federal court in Massachusetts for a wide range of damages and injunctions — including publicly “retracting and correcting” their accusations of sexual assault. And he is convinced it was their words and actions that cost him high-profile gigs on NBC and Netflix. 
 
 “Each Counterclaim Defendant induced both NBC and Netflix to postpone or cancel their contracts with Mr. Cosby by engaging in a campaign to assassinate Mr. Cosby’s reputation and character by willfully, maliciously, and falsely accusing Mr. Cosby of multi-decade-old purported sexual misconduct in an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from their allegations,” states the counterclaim filing today from Cosby (read it here), who is scheduled to give depositions in the case soon. 
 
 A week before it was set to premiere, Netflix pulled the plugged on an already filmed special with Cosby on November 18, 2014, as the allegations of rape, drugging and more began to rise and rise. The next day, on November 19, NBC, the former home of The Cosby Show, hit halt on a proposed family sitcom with Cosby. Just days later, Cosby’s now-former lawyer Marty Singer called the then-recent accusations from the women in this case “the latest example of people coming out of the woodwork with unsubstantiated or fabricated stories about my client.” Such statements became the basis of the defamation case going on now in New England. 
 
 A case that today Cosby not only denied but flipped around to be about him. 
 
 “Counterclaim Defendants’ false statements were defamatory because they held Mr. Cosby up to hatred, distrust, contempt, disgrace, scorn, and ridicule among considerable and respectable segments of the community, including from the media coverage and public reaction to Counterclaim Defendants’ false and defamatory statements,” the 89-page filing adds. Of course, the part of the risk that Cosby is taking here is he may be required to testify in this case and could find himself answering some very tough questions and accusations under oath. 
 
 “If anyone is surprised by Cosby’s actions today, they shouldn’t be,” said the accusers’ lawyer Joseph Cammarata Monday “He’s taken a page out of the defense attorney’s playbook in an effort to shift the focus of this legitimate inquiry. It is curious that he has filed a claim only against these seven women, when there are scores of other women who have made similar allegations of sexual abuse and assault against Mr. Cosby. My clients remain resolute in their desire to have their day in court, sooner rather than later, and they each expect that their good name and reputation will be restored.” 
 
 Today also saw Cosby stripped of yet another honorary degree, this time from Boston University. With more than 50 women now accusing Cosby of sexual assault, the school said his alleged actions “demonstrates that his character fails to reflect the integrity and virtues that the university values and esteems.” 
 
 This comes as Cosby battles to stop already ordered depositions by himself and Singer in a defamation case by Janice Dickinson. The former America’s Next Top Model judge alleges that Cosby raped her in 1982 and that Singer branded her a “liar” last year when she brought the incident up. Dickinson took the matter to court in May, and in the fall she filed an amended complaint now formally naming Singer a defendant. “Having been unsuccessful in his attempt to get the Massachusetts accusers’ claims thrown out, Bill Cosby’s next aggressive legal move is to countersue them,” noted Dickinson’s attorney Lisa Bloom today. “At least this ensures that the accusers will get the day in court they have been seeking.” 
 
 As the LosAngeles D.A. continues to review a LAPD investigation of claims that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted then-18-year-old model Chloe Goins at a party at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, another potentially damning deposition could become public soon. The comic gave several sworn hours of testimony in October in Boston in the civil case of Judy Huth, who claims Cosby molested her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974 when she was 15. Like the explosive and now-unsealed 2005 deposition in the Andrea Constand case, where Cosby admitted to having prescriptions for Quaaludes in the 1970s and that he intended to give those pills to women he wanted to have sex with, the Huth deposition could become public next week. That’s all a matter of if the judge in the once-Singer-conducted case deems that material private or not. 
 
 In the case that saw the countersuit today and seeks a wide ranging confidentiality agreement and protective order, Cosby is represented by a legion of lawyers from L.A. firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and Springfield MA’s Egan, Flanagan & Cohen, PC.
– Bill Cosby has been pretty quiet since rape accusations against him started becoming big news, but this week tweets appeared on his Twitter feed for the first time since Nov. 17. "Thank you @WhoopiGoldberg," he tweeted Tuesday, following that up yesterday with "Thank you @MissJillScott, from the Cosby Family." Goldberg defended Cosby on The View back on Nov. 20, saying she planned to "reserve my judgment because I have a lot of questions." One of those questions: "Perhaps the police might have believed [the allegation], or the hospital," she said. "Don’t you do a kit when you say someone has raped you?" And Scott defended Cosby and his "magnificent legacy" on Monday, Us reports. Meanwhile, three more alleged Cosby victims came forward yesterday, People reports. Gloria Allred, who is representing them, held a press conference stating that Cosby should put $100 million in a fund for his alleged victims—and also waive the statute of limitations on sexual assault claims, which would allow the women to sue him. "It could be advantageous for Mr. Cosby to give up the statute of limitations because there is a huge cloud on his reputation and legacy," she said. "If Mr. Cosby believes all the women are being untruthful, then this is his opportunity to prove it. What could be fairer than that?" In the wake of the press conference, Cosby delayed two shows he was scheduled to do in New York Saturday, TMZ reports. (Roseanne Barr recently deleted a controversial Cosby tweet.)