newsmakers

newsmakers

Philanthropist is latest Bill Cosby accuser; another show canceled

LOS ANGELES

A philanthropist and former entertainment exec has become the latest in a string of purported victims to accuse entertainer Bill Cosby of sexual assault.

The accusation by Cindra Ladd, the wife of former 20th Century Fox President Alan Ladd Jr., came on the same day the entertainer pulled out of another scheduled concert performance, this time in Bakersfield, Calif.

Cosby has canceled several scheduled dates since the scandal broke late last year, and his Feb. 12 concert at the Fox Theatre would have been the closest appearance to Los Angeles since the controversy erupted.

In an essay posted to the Huffington Post on Monday, Ladd wrote that she first met Cosby in 1969 in New York when she was a 21-year-old single woman working for the late film producer Ray Stark. She said Cosby at that time was a 32-year-old “nationally known performer,” and “one of the most likeable and popular entertainers in the business.”

Ladd wrote that Cosby asked for her number, and she gave it to him. The two began hanging out, going to movies and eating snacks along with her roommate in their apartment. “He was married to his current wife and he acted like a perfect gentleman who didn’t come on to either of us, which, I have to admit, made me wonder what his objective was,” she wrote.

She said she met him one night before a movie outing at an apartment that he said belonged to a friend of his. After she complained of a terrible headache, Cosby told her he had a “miracle cure” given to him by a doctor. He gave her a capsule, saying she could trust him.

Ladd wrote that she doesn’t recall exactly what happened because it remains “a blur.” But she said she awoke the following morning nude in bed at the friend’s apartment, and Cosby was wearing a white terry cloth bathrobe: “It was obvious that he had had sex with me.”

She said she never went to the police because it was a “different time and ‘date rape’ was a concept that did not exist.”

Representatives for Cosby did not respond immediately to comment. The entertainer has previously denied such accusations.

Melissa Rivers sues over Joan Rivers’ death

NEW YORK

Melissa Rivers has filed a malpractice lawsuit against the Manhattan clinic where her mother, Joan Rivers, had an endoscopy and later died.

Rivers also is suing the doctors who treated her mother before her death. She said in a statement that she sued so no other family has to go through what she did. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Yorkville Endoscopy said in a statement it was not appropriate to comment on the lawsuit. It extended condolences to the family.

Joan Rivers died Sept. 4 at age 81. The city’s medical examiner found she died of brain damage due to lack of oxygen after she stopped breathing during the procedure.

Measles outbreak that began at Disneyland grows to 87 cases

LOS ANGELES

A measles outbreak that originated at Disneyland has grown to 87 cases.

The California Department of Public Health said Monday most of the infections — 73— are in California. The rest are in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska and Mexico.

Vindicator wire services