Celebrities, politicians among those named in sex abuse suits filed under NY’s Adult Survivors Act
- By the time the law expired last week, more than 3,700 legal claims had been filed, with many coming against big-name celebrities and politicians
- Celebrities named include Bill Cosby, Jamie Foxx and Steven Tyler while politicians include Donald Trump, Andrew Cuomo and Rudy Giuliani
For a year, New York’s Adult Survivors Act suspended the usual legal deadlines to give sexual assault victims one last chance to file lawsuits over misconduct that occurred years or decades ago.
By the time the law expired last week, more than 3,700 legal claims had been filed, with many of the last few coming against big-name celebrities and a handful of politicians.
The list of the accused contained many familiar names from past #MeToo scandals and a few new ones. A huge number of claims were also made by former prisoners over alleged assaults in jails and prisons.
Some of the more noteworthy lawsuits include former US president Donald Trump, one of the first to be sued under the law when it took effect last November, by a writer who said he had raped her in a department store dressing room.
E Jean Carroll, a columnist, had written of the alleged assault in a 2019 book. Trump rebuffed the accusation, saying it never happened. Carroll initially sued Trump only for defamation because the allegations dated back to the mid-90s and the deadline for filing a legal claim had long since passed. But the Adult Survivors Act cleared the way for a suit claiming sexual assault.
In May, a jury found Trump liable of sexually abusing Carroll, but not raping her. She was awarded US$5 million, including damages for defamation.
