The clock struck midnight on the New York Adult Survivors of Sexual Assault statute, a law that opened one year for accusers to file a lawsuit against their alleged abusers. And when it was all said and done, more than 2,600 claims were filed, including some last-minute cases against Hollywood and music’s biggest names.
The state law, which opened on Thanksgiving 2022, and closed at midnight on Thanksgiving this year, has allowed accusers from decades-old encounters to seek financial damages from those they said manipulated them, took advantage of their authority, raped, and otherwise sexually abused them.
Some of the earlier high-profile names were the twice-impeached and four-times criminally indicted former President Donald Trump, whom the writer E. Jean Carroll successfully sued in court this year. A jury found that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in the 1990s and awarded her $5 million in damages.
A week before the midnight deadline, the R&B singer Cassie Ventura sued Sean “Diddy” Combs for years of sexual abuse and a myriad of other damning accusations in which the two quickly reached a settlement in which one report claimed $100 million. Before the midnight deadline, Diddy was hit with another sexual assault lawsuit before the deadline.
But he was far from alone. Actors Jamie Foxx and Cuba Gooding Jr. were among them. Entertainers such as Russell Brand, Marilyn Manson, and Harvey Weinstein also were hit with suits. Comedian Bill Cosby again faced allegations of sexual assault, while Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose was accused of a vicious assault in 1989. Photographer Terry Richardson and famed music producer L.A. Reid also faced accusations dating back to 2004 and the mid-2000s, respectively.
Record mogul Jimmy Iovine and New York City Mayor Eric Adams were accused of assaulting women in lawsuits filed this week under the Adult Survivors Act, signed into law by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in May 2022. The law, which has caused seismic waves, went into effect six months after its signing.
Adams denied any wrongdoing, stating, “I would never do anything to harm anyone,” and expressing a lack of recollection of any interaction with the accuser.
Surprisingly, most of the 2,500 lawsuits filed under the Adult Survivors Act are not headline-grabbing cases involving celebrities. According to the Associated Press, most of the suits pertain to alleged abuse within New York state prisons and local jails. One survivor, Alexandria Johnson, shared her story of being raped multiple times while incarcerated, emphasizing the newfound voice the Adult Survivors Act has provided for survivors like her.
The act itself evolved from the Child Victims Act, enacted in 2019, which allowed individuals abused as minors a “lookback window” to file claims. Hochul noted that the Child Victims Act had overlooked many individuals, prompting the introduction of the Adult Survivors Act. The sheer volume and variety of allegations underscored the seismic impact of the legislation and its role in giving a voice to survivors who claim to have long felt unheard.
Incredible!!! I wonder if there are any accused female abusers?