Bill Cosby Forgiven by Accuser Beverly Johnson (Video)

Former model says she hopes scandal-plagued comedian will serve as a “lightning rod” for conversation about rape culture

NASHVILLE, TN – NOVEMBER 10: Musician Chrissie Hynde performs at Ryman Auditorium on November 10, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)

Bill Cosby received something that he hasn’t recently been accustomed to on Wednesday morning: Forgiveness.

Former model Beverly Johnson, who has accused Cosby of drugging her, told “Good Morning America” that she is able to grant forgiveness to the comedian.

Asked what she would say to Cosby if she were to speak to him today, Johnson replied, “I forgive you.”

Asked what she thought should happen to Cosby, who has been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women, Johnson said, “I’m gonna leave that to the Justice Department, and I just feel that he’s a lightning rod for a much bigger conversation, and that conversation would be [about] the rape culture in America.”

Johnson has said in the past that she doesn’t believe Cosby sexually assaulted her. However, she has recounted an alleged encounter during which she auditioned for Cosby at his New York brownstone and he insisted that she drink a cappuccino.

“I took one sip and I felt something very strange going on in my head. The first sensation was a little woozy. So then I took another sip and after that second sip, I knew I had been drugged,” Johnson told CNN in December.

Cosby’s attorneys have denied the allegations against the comedian. Nonetheless, the accusations have led to a series of setbacks for the comedian, including legal action and the shelving of a comedy that NBC was developing for the comedian.

Watch Johnson offer her forgiveness in the video.

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