Chelsea Handler relates strange encounter with Bill Cosby

NEW YORK, March 26 (UPI) -- Comedian Chelsea Handler covers the new issue of Esquire magazine fully naked standing next to Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman, who is also naked, but even more controversial than the cover are the comments made by Handler about a "weird" encounter she had with fallen star Bill Cosby.

"He tried to Cosby me," she told Esquire.

"I was in Atlantic City playing, doing stand-up, and he was doing stand-up in Atlantic City in the same hotel, and at like three o'clock in the afternoon, someone from the hotel came down and said, 'Oh, you know, Mr. Cosby would really like to meet you up in his hotel suite.' And I thought, 'That's really weird.' This was like ten years ago. And I said, 'That's really weird. I don't want to go alone.' I go, I don't know him."

Handler, 40, says she enlisted three of the "guys" that were with her at the trip to accompany her to Cosby's suite and says she never "even [thought] of it" when stories about Cosby's alleged sexual assault victims started pouring out.

"Then my friend texted me the other day saying, 'Do you remember that night we went up to, or that afternoon we went up to Bill Cosby's and you were so freaked out you made us come with you?' And I said, 'Yeah,' and he said, 'Hello! You could've been one of his victims if we weren't there.' And I went, 'Oh my gosh . . .' Yeah, so yeah, he's guilty... I think it's pretty obvious now."

The Cosby Show star, 77, has been publicly accused of drugging and or raping more than two dozen women over the years. The actor's lawyer has vehemently denied the allegations while Cosby has yet to address the issue. Cosby told fans he's "far from finished" in a video message released earlier this month to promote his comedy show.