© Getty Images

Expanded rights for abuse accusers -

The rights of abuse accusers to file lawsuits without a time limit on when the alleged incidents took place, expired on November 24, 2023.

© Getty Images

A window to make a claim -

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Adult Survivors Act into law in 2022. It provided one year for people who say they experienced assault when they were over the age of 18 to sue their abusers, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

© Getty Images

A window to make a claim -

Since the window opened on November 24, 2022, over 2,500 lawsuits were filed up to the week of November 20, 2023. An avalanche of claims were filed in the last few eligible days.

© Getty Images

Revisiting the laws on assault claims -

New York was one of several states that revisited time limits set on civil sexual assault claims, although in the past these usually focused on people who were abused as children.

© Getty Images

Donald Trump -

One of the first cases filed under the Adult Survivors Act once the window opened was against former president Donald Trump.

© Getty Images

E. Jean Carroll's case against Trump -

Writer E. Jean Carroll first accused Donald Trump of raping her in a New York department store in an excerpt of her book published by New York Magazine in 2019.

© Getty Images

E. Jean Carroll's case against Trump -

Carroll filed a suit against Trump in 2022 for the assault, which allegedly took place in 1996. The trial against the former president took place a year later in Manhattan federal court.

© Getty Images

Trump found liable -

Trump denied the accusation, and did not attend the trial. A jury found him liable of sexual abuse and defamation. They awarded Carroll US$5 million.

© Getty Images

A shattered reputation -

"I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen," Carroll testified about the 1996 assault. "He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try to get my life back."

© Getty Images

Cassie accuses former partner Sean "Diddy" Combs of assault -

One of the most high-profile claims taken under the act was that of Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura against her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs.

© Getty Images

Cassie agrees to a settlement -

The lawsuit alleged that Cassie, who began a professional and sexual relationship with the rap mogul when she was 19, had been trafficked, raped, and viciously beaten by Combs over the course of their decade-long relationship. The pair reached a settlement one day after the filing.

© Getty Images

Not the last lawsuit for Diddy -

A second lawsuit was taken by Joi Dickerson-Neal. She alleges she was assaulted and abused by Combs in 1991, in an incident that was videotaped and distributed to others in the music industry.

© Getty Images

A third lawsuit -

According to USA Today, a Jane Doe accuses Diddy and singer Aaron Hall of the assault of her and a friend in either 1990 or 1991, following an MCA Records event.

© Getty Images

Harve Pierre -

Combs' company Bad Boy Entertainment, and its former president Harve Pierre, are also facing suits for negligence and sexual assault. A former employee accuses Pierre of using his position of authority to groom, exploit, and assault her.

© Getty Images

Jimmy Iovine -

Former record executive Jimmy Iovine was accused of sexual abuse in a summons filed November 22, 2023, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The alleged incidents date back to 2007. Iovine's spokesperson responded that they are "shocked and baffled" by the allegations.

© Getty Images

L.A. Reid -

Drew Dixon, a former music executive, is suing L.A. Reid under the law. She claims he sexually assaulted her and derailed her career while she worked for him, when he was chief executive of Arista Records. She alleges that Reid assaulted her twice in 2001 and later cut her budget when she refused his continuing advances.

© Getty Images

Axl Rose -

The Guns N' Roses front man is being sued for an assault that dates back to 1989. Former Penthouse model Sheila Kennedy filed against him under the law.

© Getty Images

Axl Rose -

Kennedy claims she was violently assaulted by Rose in a New York City hotel room after meeting at a nightclub party. Rose's attorney called the allegations "fictional" and said Rose has "no recollection" of meeting Kennedy.

© Getty Images

Russell Brand -

Among several accusations of rape, assault, and abuse against Brand is a suit under the Adult Survivors Act in New York.

© Getty Images

Russell Brand -

Filed on November 3, 2023, a Jane Doe alleges Brand assaulted her on the set of the remake of the movie 'Arthur' (2011). She claims the assault happened in a bathroom, after Brand had exposed himself in full view of the movie's cast and crew earlier in the day.

© Getty Images

Cuba Gooding Jr. -

Cuba Gooding Jr. faces two allegations of abuse by women who previously brought criminal charges against the actor.

© Getty Images

Cuba Gooding Jr. -

Jasmine Abbay and Kelsey Harbert are seeking damages for lost wages and emotional distress, as well as punitive damages, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees, in addition to a jury trial.

© Getty Images

Jamie Foxx -

Jamie Foxx is accused by a Jane Doe of assault in 2015. She claims that while intoxicated at a New York City rooftop bar, Foxx made comments about her body, before touching her in the back of the establishment.

© Getty Images

Jamie Foxx -

Doe is seeking a jury trial, claiming she was injured and had to undergo medical treatment while suffering emotional distress. A spokesman for Foxx denies the incident and called the allegation "frivolous."

© Getty Images

Eric Adams -

According to a summons filed in Manhattan, a woman accuses New York City mayor Eric Adams of assaulting her 30 years ago.

© Getty Images

Eric Adams -

The woman is seeking US$5 million in damages. Adams responded to the allegations, saying it "absolutely did not happen" and that he didn't recall meeting the person. "That is not who I am, and that is not who I've ever been in my professional life," he said.

© Getty Images

Terry Richardson -

Photographer Terry Richardson has been accused by two models under the Act. A Spanish model, Minerva Portillo, alleged he assaulted her in front of his employees.

© Getty Images

Terry Richardson -

A former actress and model, Caron Bernstein, filed a lawsuit that alleges that in 2003 she was "lured" to Richardson's studio with a work offer. Instead, she claims, she was assaulted there.

© Getty Images

Bill Cosby -

An unnamed woman who worked as a stand-in on 'The Cosby Show' in the '80s alleges in a lawsuit filed under the Act that Bill Cosby drugged and abused her, after offering to mentor her.

© Getty Images

Not all of the suits were filed against entertainment figures -

The large majority of the cases filed were taken against the state, New York City, and counties in state prisons and local jail systems. One high-profile ex-Columbia University gynaecologist, Robert Hadden, is already serving a 20-year sentence for molesting his patients over decades. He now faces 300 new allegations under the Act. 

© Getty Images

Wigdor LLP -

Of course, not all of the suits were filed against entertainment figures; the large majority of the cases filed were taken against the state, New York City, and counties. The lawyer for Cassie Ventura's lawsuit against Sean Combs, Douglas Wigdor, said one of the reasons so many people came forward against people in the entertainment industry was because of the publicity their case received the week before the law was about to expire.

Sources: (USA Today) (Associated Press) (BBC)

See also: Celebrities who are sexual abuse survivors

© Getty Images