The rape case facing
Bill Cosby has gained more weight. This is after a secret that was held for
thirty years was revealed.
Heidi Thomas says she
has held a secret for 30 years. Now, for the first time, she wants to be heard.
Her secret is one that
may sound familiar as she adds her name to the list of more than 20 women who
have spoken out to various media outlets about allegations of sexual misconduct
by Bill Cosby.
Thomas' account dates back to 1984. Los Angeles was
preparing for the Summer Olympics, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album
topped 37 million albums sold and a Hollywood icon was ready to launch a new
show that would rewrite television history. Bill Cosby was on the verge of
stardom
Heidi Thomas says she met with Bill Cosby in 1984.when she
was an aspiring actress but since she was tall enough and had a slender body,
her management suggested modeling.
Thomas says her career was picking up in 1984, but she was
questioning whether she wanted the lifestyle of a model. That's when the call
came from Annie Maloney, an agent with JF Images, who told her there was a very
important person in the industry who was "looking for young talent that he
can mentor."
She says Maloney told her that she needed to go to Reno,
Nevada, because Bill Cosby wanted to work with her -- to coach her and help her
act. Maloney died in 1997.
Cosby was performing at Harrah's Hotel and Casino. Thomas
says her agent told her she would be staying there and Cosby would probably be
doing the coaching in his hotel suite.
Thomas' mother, Greta Lea Johnson, was concerned about her
daughter going to a new city by herself.
Thomas says she was picked up by limousine at the airport in
Reno. She questioned the driver because she remembered seeing the city lights
behind her as they drove away. Thomas says she was confused because the
postcard she bought at the airport showed Harrah's as being in the middle of
town.
The driver told her that a friend let Cosby use their house
outside Reno so "he doesn't have to deal with all of the paparazzi,"
Thomas says.
Thomas says Cosby greeted her at the door of the sprawling
house, and later, the coaching began.
She says she performed a monologue, and when she finished,
Cosby asked her to do a cold read of a person who was intoxicated.
According to Thomas, Cosby wasn't impressed. Thomas wasn't
much of a drinker.
"How are you ever going play an intoxicated person ...
if you've never been drunk?" she says he told her.
She says Cosby wanted her to relax, and he gave her a glass
of Chablis.
Thomas admits that her memory of the next few hours is
"foggy," but she says that at one point, he may have asked her
something like, (Are you) "feeling the part now?" or "Feeling
the lines now?"
Thomas says that when she woke up, Cosby was next to her in
bed, naked and "forcing himself in my mouth." She says she remembers
feeling like she wanted to throw up.
Soon after, Thomas says, Cosby was getting on top of her
again and referring to himself in the third person.
"I'm your friend ... your friend is gonna (ejaculate)
again," Thomas remembers him saying.
Rather than get angry with Cosby, Thomas says, she made
excuses and asked herself, "What's happened? Why am I here? Why is he
naked? What did I say? What did I do?"
Thomas says she remembers eventually storming out of the
room and slamming the door, and then apologizing for being "rude."
The next thing she can remember is riding with Cosby to his show. She says the
rest of her memory is spotty: She recalls a cook offering her strawberries and
having wine with Cosby before his show. But, she says, she doesn't remember
much more from the four-day trip.
