Janice Dickinson sues Bill Cosby for defamation after he says she's 'lying' about sexual assault claims

The model is suing the comedian for accusing her of lying after she came forward claiming that he sexually assaulted her

Janice Dickinson is taking Bill Cosby to court after he accused her of lying over a sexual assault claim.

Dickinson has alleged that Cosby attacked her 35 years ago. More than 40 women say they were assaulted by Cosby, and she is the second to file for defamation.

Legal papers show that Dickinson accuses Cosby of ruining her reputation and deliberately causing "emotional distress".

Dickinson said in November that Cosby assaulted her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, after they had dinner. She has said she believes she was drugged. In the legal complaint, Dickinson said she did not report Cosby because she was afraid of retaliation.

Supermodel Janice Dickinson in 2014

He has never been charged over the allegations. In 2006 he settled a civil suit for an undisclosed amount with a woman who said the comic drugged and sexually assaulted her at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

Cosby became a household name in the Eighties with his much-loved sitcom The Cosby Show.

After Dickinson told of the alleged attack in 2014, Cosby's lawyer Martin Singer said that her story was "a lie", and adding: "Ms. Dickinson completely fabricated the story of alleged rape".

Dickinson's lawyer Lisa Bloom said: "Calling Dickinson a liar is a defamatory statement under the law... and that's the mistake Bill Cosby made."

"It was too late to for her to sue for rape or for drugging, but once he through his representatives called her a liar she had a fresh claim for defamation and that's the lawsuit that we filed today."

Another woman, former model Tamara Green, has brought a defamation suit against Cosby. Green is seeking unspecified damages after Cosby denied her claims of sexual assault.