( CNN ) -- In an essay for Vanity Fair , famed model Beverly Johnson accuses Bill Cosby of drugging her in a meeting at his Manhattan residence in the 1980s -- adding herself to the list of women who have made accusations against the comedian in recent weeks . `` For a long time I thought it was something that only happened to me , and that I was somehow responsible . So I kept my secret to myself , believing this truth needed to remain in the darkness , '' she writes . `` Now that other women have come forward with their nightmare stories , I join them . '' Bill Cosby facing litany of allegations . CNN has reached out to Cosby 's attorney , Martin Singer , but has not heard back yet . Johnson , a noted model in the 1970s and the first black woman to appear on the cover of American Vogue , says the alleged incident , which did not involve sexual assault , happened in the mid-'80s when Cosby was starring on `` The Cosby Show . '' She was offered an audition for a small role on the hit program . `` I was in the midst of an ugly custody battle for my only child . I needed a big break badly and appearing on 'The Cosby Show ' seemed like an excellent way of getting Hollywood 's attention , '' she writes . After some initial meetings , including one in which Johnson took her child to Cosby 's brownstone , she was invited back to Cosby 's residence . She was working through acting exercises -- including one in which she acted drunk -- in front of the comedian when he asked her to have a drink from his cappuccino machine , she recalls . `` I knew by the second sip of the drink Cosby had given me that I 'd been drugged -- and drugged good , '' she writes . Cosby then asked her to approach him . `` He put his hands around my waist , and I managed to put my hand on his shoulder in order to steady myself . As I felt my body go completely limp , my brain switched into automatic-survival mode , '' she writes . `` That meant making sure Cosby understood that I knew exactly what was happening at that very moment . '' Johnson then repeatedly called Cosby a `` motherf***** . '' `` By the fifth ( epithet ) , I could tell that I was really pissing him off , '' she writes . Cosby yanked her down some stairs `` as my high heels clicked and clacked on every step . I feared my neck was going to break with the force he was using to pull me down those stairs , '' she writes . He then hailed a taxi and deposited her inside . There was a short postscript to the story . A few days later , she writes , she tried to call Cosby on a private number so he could `` come clean and explain why he 'd done what he had . '' Cosby 's wife , Camille , answered the phone . When Johnson asked to speak to Cosby , Camille told her it was late and they were in bed . Johnson said she 'd call back , but never did . `` In the end , just like the other women , I had too much to lose to go after Bill Cosby , '' she writes , adding that she was worried what telling the story would do to her career at a time when she was financially stretched because of her divorce . Johnson says she has wrestled with herself for years . She left the story out of her 2013 memoir because she `` did n't want to get involved in a he-said , she-said situation , '' she writes . Talking Friday morning to CNN 's `` New Day , '' Johnson said `` it was only maybe 24 hours ago that I finally decided that , yes , this is what I wanted to do . '' Her speaking up now was motivated in part to show solidarity with others , like her longtime friend Janice Dickinson ( who says Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1982 , a claim attorney Singer has called `` a fabricated lie '' ) , who have publicly accused Bill Cosby in recent weeks . And Johnson said that she hopes , by going public herself , to encourage anyone has been sexually victimized to speak out . `` This , to me , is not about Bill Cosby . This , to me , is about violence against women , '' she said . `` ... What I want to see happen is that women come out and speak their truth . ''
NEW : Beverly Johnson to CNN : I want more women here to ` ` to the truth '' The famed model says Bill Cosby raped her in 1980s . Johnson says she shouted an epithet at Cosby , who finally sent her away . Johnson says she was afraid to tell her story before recent allegations .