In response to the accusation, Hugh Hefner released the following statement about the comedian.
“Bill Cosby has been a good friend for many years and the mere thought of these allegations is truly saddening. I would never tolerate this kind of behavior, regardless of who was involved.”
The investigation was opened Friday after Judy Huth, who is suing Cosby for sexual battery, met with detectives for 90 minutes, Officer Jane Kim said.
Huth's civil suit claims Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 when she was underage.
Attorney Gloria Allred said Huth met with two special victim unit detectives Friday, three days after her lawsuit was filed.
"We are going to provide any and all evidence that she has," Allred said.
Huth did not take questions during a news conference.
Police did not give any additional details about the investigation. Police Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday urged potential victims of sex abuse by Cosby to speak with detectives, regardless of whether their claims were outside the statute of limitations.
Allred refused to comment on Huth's lawsuit, which was filed by a different law firm. Cosby's attorney, Martin Singer, accused Huth and another lawyer of extortion and said she attempted to sell her story to a tabloid a decade earlier.
Singer's filing states the other attorney, Marc Strecker, first demanded $100,000 for Huth to remain silent, then raised the demand to $250,000 as more women came forward accusing Cosby of sexual misconduct.
Cosby has been accused by more than 15 women in recent weeks of sexual misconduct, ranging from groping to drugging and raping. He has never been charged with a crime, and his attorneys have denied many of the allegations.
Crews on Friday were forced to clean up Cosby's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after someone wrote "Rapist" on it three times.
"When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways then to vandalize a California state landmark," the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which manages the stars embedded in several sidewalks, said in a statement.
Cosby received his star in 1977. It's placed near the busy intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and North Highland Avenue.
Also Friday, a woman who said Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1979 told her story in interviews with CNN and The Associated Press and said she wanted to help stop the comedian from abusing others.
P.J. Masten said in an interview with CNN that she woke up naked and bruised in a bed with Cosby in Chicago after he gave her an alcoholic drink and that she believes she was raped.
She said she knew Cosby from working at Playboy clubs in New Jersey, Los Angeles and Chicago. She said she was instructed at the time not to report the assault because Cosby was Hugh Hefner's "best friend," but she decided this week to come forward with her allegations after a woman sued Cosby, alleging that he forced her to perform a sex act at the Playboy Mansion when she was 15.
"I just want him exposed for the serial druggie rapist that he is. He's got to be stopped," Masten said. "I don't care if he's 77 years old. He's got to be stopped."
