Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Sammy Davis Jr.'s Ex-Girlfriend Says Bill Cosby Raped Her In Hotel Room In 1970s
Katherine McKee—an actress, casting director and ex-girlfriend of Sammy Davis Jr.—has come forward with yet another story about how Bill Cosby raped her back in the early 1970s. She's the 21st woman to come forward.McKee told the New York Daily News that the shocking incident happened at a Michigan hotel room while she was on tour with Davis. Davis had an open marriage and McKee was his "road wife." McKee says that she had known Cosby for eight years at the time and even appeared on “The Bill Cosby Show” in 1971 beforehand, which made the attack seem all the more brazen.
“It was a rape, but it seemed so strange to call it that. We think of rape as a stranger who attacks you in a parking lot," she told the Daily News.
McKee was a Michigan native who had stayed behind in Detroit on a tour so that she could visit family. Cosby invited her to a boat party, and he asked her to bring ribs and then pick him up at the hotel. She obliged and met him at the door:
“I remember I walked in the door, and he had a robe and cap on. He took the ribs from my hands and just grabbed me,” McKee said of Cosby. “He spun me around, pulled my panties down, and just took it. We were still standing at the door when he attacked me,” she told The News. “It was so fast and so shocking and so unbelievable,” she said.
“To me, there was a different personality involved. He was a different man. It felt like a different person performing that act.”
McKee said she quickly fled to the bathroom to compose herself. Cosby got dressed, and the two shared an icy silence in the elevator down to the lobby, where someone was waiting to escort them to the boat party.
“I never said a word. I was too uncomfortable about it,” she recalled. “Bill was so rude and cold toward me the rest of the night. I thought, ‘When this boat docks, I'm out of here.’ I just left.”
"I figured, ‘If I don’t think about it, it won’t bother me.' Of course, with all these women surfacing now, it flushed it out," McKee said.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
