Victoria
Valentino
SURVIVOR
No one wants to get famous for being sexually assaulted. But sometimes, it's not about you. Sometimes, it's about finally telling the truth.
If it wasn't for a young basketball coach who trusted Bill Cosby when he offered to mentor her, Victoria Valentino and some 60 other women may never have been heard when they came forward to back up her claims of drugging and sexual assault by him in 2004. Although the Statute of Limitations had long expired for them, they knew it was the right thing to do for generations to come.
On November 14, 2014, Victoria became the sixteenth woman to come forward and one of the five women interviewed in a Washington Post piece published on November 22, 2014. And as more and more of his survivors began to come forward, the media frenzy that ensued resulted in more than a few hastily written articles peppered with erroneous facts.
Until, less than a year later, New York Magazine published their blockbuster issue that blew the lid off the Cosby story spotlighting their meticulous research, "Cosby: The Women - An Unwelcome Sisterhood". The magazine cover has become iconic by depicting 35 of the survivors who were willing to be photographed and videotaped telling their own stories, in their own words.
Victoria Valentino was one of them. (VIDEO)
Since then, Victoria has been in demand across the globe, in newspapers, magazines and on television, not only to retell her shocking story of violent rape and callous disregard by one of America's most powerful celebrities but to also offer her viewpoint and wisdom on his motives and modus operandi. And to give behind the scenes information of his trials and eventual conviction for violent sexual assault on April 26, 2018 as well as her reaction to his surprise release on June 30, 2021, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction on a technicality.
Now, she is featured in Showtime's compelling new four-part series, "We Need to Talk About Cosby" by documentary filmmaker W. Kamau Bell in which he expertly chronicles the performer's meteoric rise to the top along with his criminal timeline.
