Report: Ex-NBC employee says he helped Bill Cosby pay off women

Just two days after Bill Cosby lawyer Martin D. Singer called out news media for the “vilification” of his client over sexual assault accusations, another person has come forward with allegations about the comedian’s past.

Frank Scotti, a 90-year-old former NBC employee, said in an interview with the New York Daily News published Sunday that he helped the comedian to make payments to eight women in 1989 and 1990.

“I was suspicious that something was going on,” Scotti, a facilities manager for the NBC studio where “The Cosby Show” was filmed, told the Daily News. The Lakewood, N.J., resident said he assumed the payments were going to women with whom Cosby had affairs. Scotti had saved copies of four money orders, photos of which were published with the Daily News article.

“Why else would he be sending money?” Scotti said. “He was sending these women $2,000 a month. What else could I think?”

Cosby’s lawyer Singer responded the Daily News: “What evidence does he [Scotti] have of Mr. Cosby’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.”

Scotti told the Daily News that Cosby used Scotti’s name on the money orders as a “coverup.” Scotti also said Cosby had the owner of a Manhattan modeling agency bring aspiring models to the comedian’s dressing room.

“He’d tell me, ‘Stand outside the door and don’t let anyone in,’” Scotti told the Daily News.

The report follows allegations that years ago Cosby, 77, sexually assaulted at least half a dozen women, including former model Janice Dickinson.

On Friday, on the same night of Cosby’s comedy show in Florida, Singer criticized media for rushing to publicize what he called “unsubstantiated, fantastical stories.”

Cosby himself has largely declined to comment. The Associated Press released video clips from a Nov. 6 interview with the comedian. When asked whether he wanted to respond to the allegations, the comedian said, “there’s no response.”

After the interviewer tried to bring up the topic once more, Cosby said: “There is no comment about that, and I’ll tell you why. I think you were told — I don’t want to compromise your integrity, but I don’t, we don’t, talk about it.”

In wake of the allegations, NBC dropped its planned Cosby comedy pilot, TV Land removed “The Cosby Show” from its schedule and Netflix postponed the launch of the new standup special. His Las Vegas show scheduled for the Thanksgiving weekend was canceled.

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