In addition to the now 17 women who have accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault, an ex-NBC employee has come forward with a claim that he delivered money to at least eight different women on behalf of the comedian from 1989 to 1990.
Frank Scotti, who first met Cosby in the 1960s, was responsible for handling Cosby’s daily affairs as facilities manager of the Brooklyn studio where The Cosby Show was filmed.
During an exclusive interview with The New York Daily News, Scotti now claims that he was used as a middleman for Cosby during the 1980s when paying off women with whom the comic icon was involved.
“I was suspicious that something was going on,” he said. “I suspected that he was having sex with them because the other person he was sending money to (Thompson) he was definitely having sex with.”
Alleged recipients of financial assistance from Cosby reportedly include Shawn Thompson, mother of Autumn Jackson, who once came forward to say Cosby was her father.
Cosby had denied paternity to Jackson, but continued to pay her mother a sum of more than $100,000 following his 1974 affair with the woman.
“Why else would he be sending money?” asked Scotti. “He was sending these women $2,000 a month. What else could I think?”
He went on to discuss a particular incident in which Cosby presented him a “satchel of money, all $100 bills,” and asked him to disburse payments through the form of money order to different women, using his own name.
Scotti said he believes Cosby was sexually involved with every woman who was receiving money.
“I did a lot of crazy things for him,” he explained. “He was covering himself by having my name on it. It was a cover up. I realized it later.”
He also recounted standing guard for Cosby when he invited young models into his Brooklyn dressing room during shows, an arrangement he says the comedian had with a Manhattan modeling agency.
Some of the aspiring models were as young as 16, according to Scotti.
“‘I want you to keep that one girl here,'” Scotti quoted Cosby as telling him. “‘I want to interview her for a part in the show.'”
“The owner just walked right out,” he said. “She knew exactly what was going to go on. Then he’d tell me, ‘Stand outside the door and don’t let anyone in.’ Now you put that together and figure (out) why.”
Scotti told The News why he decided to leave his position as Cosby’s aid:
“It bothered me…You’ve got all of these kids, every time,” he explained. “I used to like him, but that’s the reason I quit him after so many years — because of the girls.”
Scotti, 90-years-old, also revealed why he has decided to speak out now about the allegations against Cosby, which continue to mount.
“I felt sorry for the women,” he said.
Cosby’s lawyer, Martin Singer, has reportedly contested Scotti’s claims, citing a lack of evidence of his client’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,” said Singer.
Scotti claims that when he left his position with Cosby, the comedian became upset. “He said, ‘You’ll never quit me. You love me,'” Scotti recounted.
Cosby reportedly asked him to leave, and the two have only spoken once since.
“He was a very selfish person,” said Scotti. “He thought he was a genius. He thought he was better than everybody else.”
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