Bill Cosby: Netflix postpones special following Janice Dickinson's rape claims

The hour-long special was due to premiere on 28 November

Bill Cosby played the lovable, family orientated obstetrician Cliff Huxtable in ‘The Cosby Show’ (Reuters)

Netflix has scrapped plans to show a new Bill Cosby comedy special in light of recent rape allegations made against the actor.

The stand-up special Bill Cosby 77 was due to premiere on 28 November in the US, but the streaming service has decided to postpone the launch.

A Netflix spokesperson said: “At this time we are postponing the launch of the new stand-up comedy special Bill Cosby 77.”

The hour-long special was due to air in honour of Cosby’s 77th birthday.

Netflix’s announcement came hours after supermodel Janice Dickinson alleged Cosby had drugged and raped her in 1982 in an nterview on Entertainment Tonight.

The 59-year-old said Cosby had offered to help her with her career, and that during their meeting they discussed a possible role for her on his hit sitcom The Cosby Show.

She claimed he offered her wine and a pill to alleviate her period pains.

“The next morning I woke up, and I wasn’t wearing my pyjamas, and I remember before I passed out that I had been sexually assaulted by this man,” she said.

Cosby has consistently strongly denied all the previous sexual allegations levelled against him, which his attorney has described as “bizarre”.

Last week the Washington Post published an article by former model Barbara Bowman, in which she accused Cosby of having “drugged and raped” her in 1985, when she was 17.

Another alleged victim, publicist Joan Tarshis, claimed she was sexually assaulted by the comedian in 1969.

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Earlier this week, Cosby’s lawyer John Schmitt said the comedian would not “dignify the allegations with a response”.

In a statement, he described the women’s allegations as “decade-old” and “discredited”, adding: “The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment.”

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