A California court has awarded more than $19 million in damages to a woman who accused veteran American entertainer Bill Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her decades ago.
The verdict was delivered on Monday, March 23, 2026, following a civil hearing in Santa Monica.
The plaintiff, Donna Motsinger, said the incident occurred over 50 years ago when she was working as a waitress and Cosby allegedly began targeting her. According to court filings, the comedian initially met her at the restaurant where she worked.
Motsinger told the court that on one occasion, Cosby picked her up in a limousine and offered her a glass of wine along with what she believed to be aspirin. She said she began drifting in and out of consciousness and later woke up at home wearing only her underwear.
“She knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby,” the lawsuit stated.
Cosby’s legal team argued that he did not recall any sexual encounter with Motsinger, maintaining that any interaction, if it occurred, was consensual.
After three days of deliberation, the jury awarded Motsinger $19.3 million in damages, with the possibility of additional punitive damages.
The case was heard in the same courthouse where, in 2022, a jury ordered Cosby to pay $500,000 to Judy Huth after finding that he had molested her in 1975 when she was 16.
Cosby, once widely known as “America’s Dad” for his role in The Cosby Show (1984–1992), was previously convicted in 2018 in a separate criminal case involving drugging and assault. However, he was released in 2021 after the conviction was overturned on a technicality.
Over the years, dozens of women have accused the 88-year-old of sexual misconduct, alleging a pattern of drugging and assault spanning several decades.
