Bill Cosby faces new allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior

(CNN)Three more women came forward publicly Wednesday to accuse Bill Cosby of sexually inappropriate behavior, creating yet another wave of allegations that the comedian abused his power by drugging and assaulting women.

One woman was a cocktail server at a jazz club in Redondo Beach, California, in the 1970s. She accused Cosby of stealing her panties after drugging her and assaulting her in her car while she was unconscious.

Another was a former model and actress who appeared as an extra on "The Cosby Show." She said that Cosby told her she better sleep with him if she wanted to make it in the entertainment industry.

After years of silence, the women said allegations against Cosby from other women emboldened them to come forward.

"After 35 years of living with these shameful memories in secret, I was finally encouraged by all the other women who have recently told their stories," said Sharon Van Ert, the former cocktail waitress.More than 40 women have publicly accused Cosby of sexual misconduct over the past 40 years. The comedian has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing. Cosby's representatives declined to comment on the latest claims.The latest allegations come amid news this week that three universities -- Marquette, Fordham and Brown --stripped Cosby of honorary degrees.

"Mr. Cosby has nobody to blame but himself for his choices and his actions," the women's lawyer, Gloria Allred, said in a news conference Wednesday in her Los Angeles law office.

"There should be serious consequences for anyone who intentionally harms or endangers the health, safety or life of innocent women and girls."The fallout from the controversy over the sex assault allegations against Cosby has been swift. Reruns of "The Cosby Show," his landmark 1980s sitcom, have been pulled from the airwaves and other projects and tour dates have been scrapped.

Allred noted Wednesday that statute of limitations prevents Cosby from facing criminal charges. But a California judge ordered Cosby in August to give a sworn deposition in a civil suit alleging he sexually abused a teenage girl more than 40 years ago.

Cosby is scheduled to answer questions under oath from the accuser's legal team on October 9.