Janice Dickinson on Bill Cosby: ‘The Rape Is Etched Into My Soul’

Janice Dickinson spoke of how she continues to grapple with the trauma of allegedly being raped by Bill Cosby after the disgraced comedian was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

“The harrowing memory of the rape continues to this day,” Dickinson said in a statement. “I have reoccurring nightmares, I wake up in fear, I fear the dark. I struggle to discuss this even with my beloved husband of six years.”

Dickinson’s attorney, Lisa Bloom, shared her client’s statement on Twitter, noting that Dickinson “was prepared to read [it] in court this week, had the judge allowed it.” According to Dickinson, Cosby drugged and raped her in a Lake Tahoe, California hotel room in 1982. She was one of several alleged victims to provide testimony during Cosby’s recent trial, which was centered around charges brought by Andrea Constand. In April, Cosby was found guilty on three counts of indecent aggravated assault against Constand.

Sexually violent predator Bill Cosby sentenced to 3-10 years.
Justice, just a little.
Here is part of the statement my brave, beautiful client Janice Dickinson was prepared to read in court this week, had the judge allowed it. pic.twitter.com/MMPI5e5zEc

— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) September 25, 2018

“The rape shattered my ability to trust,” Dickinson continued. “It made me extremely wary of becoming an actress. It affected my work. It affected my lifestyle. I lost a lot of spunk. I lost some of my effervescent attitude and lightness, qualities required of a model. I became less motivated to meet new people, a huge component of my daily work as a model. You don’t move away from the jobs – you run towards the work. My work suffered.”

Dickinson recalled how she even moved to Milan, Italy in an attempt to escape any mention of Cosby, but that failed to alleviate her pain. “The rape is etched into my soul,” she said. “Therapy has helped some but it has not helped to restore my innocence. I was never the same. I will never be the same.”

Gloria Allred, who represents several other women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, also spoke outside the courtroom after the sentencing hearing Tuesday, according to The New York Times. She said she was “glad that judgement day has finally come for Mr. Cosby,” and called the Constand case – which comprised two trials after the first ended in a mistrial – “a long journey to justice for all of the accusers.”

Allred continued, “Mr. Cosby has shown no remorse, and there has been no justice for many of the accusers who were barred from a court by the arbitrary time limits imposed by the statute of limitations. But many of them were brave enough to speak to law enforcement and some of them were chosen to speak as prior bad act witnesses. So we are very proud those who cooperated with law enforcement and did what [they] could do to have a just result.”

Allred also shared an official statement with Rolling Stone, in which she said: “I am very happy that Mr. Cosby has been classified as a sexually violent predator and that he was sentenced to prison… It is a great day for victims and I am very proud of all of my clients who had the courage to testify as prior bad act witnesses. They were very important in achieving this result. No person is above the law. Bill Cosby learned that lesson the hard way today.”