A Los Angeles judge has upheld a $59.25 million judgment against Bill Cosby, rejecting the comedian’s attempt to overturn a jury verdict in a decades-old sexual assault case on May 29, 2026.
Judge Rejects New Trial Motion
Judge Bradley Phillips denied Cosby’s motion for a new trial, ruling that the 88-year-old failed to show “any irregularity” in the proceedings or that the damages were “excessive.” The decision keeps in place the award to Donna Motsinger, who accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in 1972 when she was working as a server at a Sausalito, California restaurant.
“The Court finds that there was sufficient evidence … to support the jury’s finding that defendant’s conduct caused plaintiff’s damages,” Phillips wrote in the ruling.
The Verdict and the Challenge
A civil jury sided with Motsinger in March 2026, awarding her $17.5 million in past non-economic damages, $1.75 million in future non-economic damages and $40 million in punitive damages after finding Cosby had acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.”
Cosby’s lawyers filed for a new trial in early April 2026, arguing the punitive damages alone — roughly one third of Cosby’s net worth — were “presumptively excessive” and amounted to “gigantic awards” that served no purpose. “He is an 88-year-old man with no sight who lives an isolated life,” his attorneys wrote, claiming his “last known sexual misconduct occurred 20 years ago.” Motsinger’s legal team disputed the financial claims, with a plaintiff’s expert witness estimating Cosby’s net worth at approximately $128 million.
The defense also contended the verdict was emotionally driven. “It is clear that this jury acted out of passion and prejudice, punishing the Defendant to take a stand against all would-be abusers in positions of power and celebrity,” the motion read.
Phillips rejected every argument. In his order, he wrote that Cosby “has not shown that there was any irregularity in the proceedings or any order or abuse of discretion by the Court that prevented [Cosby] from having a fair trial; that either the compensatory or punitive damages are excessive; that the evidence was insufficient to justify the verdict or that the verdict is against law; or that there was any error in law.”
The Allegations From 1972
Motsinger, now 84, filed her lawsuit in September 2023 under a California law allowing historical victims of sexual assault to pursue civil claims against their abusers decades later. Her complaint described how Cosby, a regular customer at the restaurant where she worked, picked her up at her home and took her to one of his Bay Area shows.
During the trip to the venue, Cosby gave her wine and a pill she thought was aspirin, according to the suit. “Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine,” the complaint alleged. She said she later woke up at her home wearing only her underwear.
Mounting Legal Losses
More than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. A 2015 New York magazine exposé documented dozens of allegations after comedian Hannibal Buress’s 2014 stand-up routine calling Cosby a rapist went viral, prompting a wave of accusers to come forward.
The entertainer once known as “America’s Dad” became one of the first Hollywood figures convicted in the wake of the #MeToo movement. He was found guilty in 2018 of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. Cosby served almost three years in a state prison outside of Philadelphia on a three- to 10-year sentence before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out his conviction in 2021.
But civil courts have proven less forgiving. In 2022, a Los Angeles jury awarded Judy Huth $500,000 after she alleged Cosby sexually abused her at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, when she was 16 years old. Cosby later withdrew his appeal of that verdict in January 2026.
Fighting On
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt signaled the legal team intends to appeal, using language he has deployed after previous setbacks and characterizing the ruling as politically motivated. The defense has consistently maintained Cosby’s innocence and has said he stands behind it.
Friday’s order moves Motsinger closer to collecting the judgment, though appeals could extend the battle for years. The denial of a new trial removes a significant procedural obstacle, allowing the verdict to stand while Cosby’s attorneys map out their next legal strategy in a case testing the boundaries of laws designed to give historical assault victims access to the courts.