Bill Cosby

[tropaka]

I'm surprised this went by the wayside for so long...14 women (only one who got a monetary settlement) claiming he was a serial rapist (would drug womens' drinks then have sex with them). I remember the original allegations but they got smoothed over, butwin the wake of a comedian mentioning them and Jian Ghomeshi (Canada) they're coming out again. Sad. I believe the women, one of whom recently came out to CNN about an assault in '69. Now Janice Dickinson weighs in

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/1 ... 81808.html

[tropaka]

on social media, just like Ghomeshi, people where quick to defend until they looked at the allegations.

[Coco]

That's sad :(

[aquitana]

It's very sad as he was such a role model and looked up to by so many African-Americans (and everyone).

I'm from Phillie where he grew up and drew his early material from, and he is a God there.

[CorruptionInc.]

It is really saddening to hear that Bill Cosby of all people is a sexual predator.

Is this a case of "bad things happen not because of bad people, but because good people standby and do nothing"? If people knew - they were obviously too scared to talk or even worse, given hush money.

[eviek]

I've been shocked by the things I've seen people saying on this subject. It's obvious we still have a huge victim shaming culture here and it's really sad.

[browncoatslytherin]

If people knew - they were obviously too scared to talk or even worse, given hush money.

according to janice, at least from what i understand, she was going to expose him in her book. but his lawyers pressured her publisher to remove it. she tried. :(

[SamE]

I am a wait and see kind of person on these types of accusations.

I was falsely accused of sexual harassment at work a few years ago and it pretty much ruined my career.

It was proven that the accuser was an employee who was angry at me for being written up for not doing his job properly. He threw all sorts of false accusations out there and I was thoroughly investigated. Many people were interviewed and told of the accusations during the investigation.

I NEVER, EVER did anything remotely close to sexually harassing anyone.

Nothing happened to the accuser. I felt he should have been fired for lying, but we were federal government employees. He was protected by his union.

I ended up quitting a few months later.

---in the end it worked out because I was afforded the opportunity to move closer to family. I am much, much happier in my current job that I ever was in that job.

[BrownieMomma]

I think a lot of people are shocked and don't want it to be true. It must be very very hard to speak out against someone like Bill Cosby, who has always seemed to be such a good person. I find it shocking and confusing, I enjoyed Bill Cosby's work for many years, gosh probably most of my life.

There really is no trusting a public persona. Have to remember, it's a persona, it's not the person. He was very different in public life but being a sexual predator in a secret personal life is not okay and ruins whatever good he did in public life.

Really makes me sad.

[Firiel]

I am a wait and see kind of person on these types of accusations.

I was falsely accused of sexual harassment at work a few years ago and it pretty much ruined my career.

It was proven that the accuser was an employee who was angry at me for being written up for not doing his job properly. He threw all sorts of false accusations out there and I was thoroughly investigated. Many people were interviewed and told of the accusations during the investigation.

I NEVER, EVER did anything remotely close to sexually harassing anyone.

Nothing happened to the accuser. I felt he should have been fired for lying, but we were federal government employees. He was protected by his union.

I ended up quitting a few months later.

---in the end it worked out because I was afforded the opportunity to move closer to family. I am much, much happier in my current job that I ever was in that job.

I think the "wait and see" approach is perfectly reasonable if there is a single person who has come forward (as long as "wait and see" does not mean assume the alleged victim is lying). But when multiple women start coming forward... well, then it becomes pretty clear in my mind that the stories of the victims are legitimate.

I'm really sorry that you were falsely accused of sexual harassment, and I mean that. I have no respect for people who invent stories of sexual harassment or assault because their lies make it harder for real victims to come forward. It's one of the shittiest things a person can do, IMO. But in general, I think it is a good policy that people need not be afraid of being fired if the accused is not found guilty of sexual harassment. In some cases (like this one), it really sucks. But in general, a policy like that encourages people who have legitimately been harassed to come forward without fear that they will lose their livelihood.

[SamE]

People who choose to falsely accuse anyone of things like this should be publicly shamed. No ifs, ands, or buts.

[Firiel]

People who choose to falsely accuse anyone of things like this should be publicly shamed. No ifs, ands, or buts.

If there is a process that allows people to determine, which reasonable certainly, the difference between someone who was purposefully lying and someone whose claim was found to be without merit, then yes.

The laws in question are there to prevent a supervisor from dismissing a sexual harassment case and then firing the person who brought the case up. That's a good thing. Potential victims should be protected. Perhaps an option to "counter-sue" (for lack of a better word) for libel if the harassment charges are found to not hold water would be appropriate.

[SamE]

As a person with a Master's degree in Human Resources, I am thoroughly aware of the laws and why there are there.

What is not fair is that the people who are interviewed and told about the accusations are never told that they are false. So, from the time your accuser points a finger - you are guilty. No matter that the outcome. You are no longer trustworthy.

I check with my attorney about suing. The accuser had nothing. He was a 20-something punk with nothing to his name...no point in suing. THe agency I worked for was protecting itself.

So, he drug me through the mud and I had no recourse.

[Firiel]

As a person with a Master's degree in Human Resources, I am thoroughly aware of the laws and why there are there.

What is not fair is that the people who are interviewed and told about the accusations are never told that they are false. So, from the time your accuser points a finger - you are guilty. No matter that the outcome. You are no longer trustworthy.

I check with my attorney about suing. The accuser had nothing. He was a 20-something punk with nothing to his name...no point in suing. THe agency I worked for was protecting itself.

So, he drug me through the mud and I had no recourse.

I agree that anyone involved in the investigation should be informed that the accusations were proved to be untrue/unfounded. Additionally, no one outside of the investigation should be informed about the accusations at all (because, unfortunately, I suspect that word "unofficially" travels based on gossip in many cases). I didn't realize that people involved in these investigations were not informed of the outcome.

[SamE]

He and I were the only ones informed of the outcome.

I wasn't even given the names of the supposed witnesses, but was told that no one could corroborate his story. (no kidding, since it was a lie!)

Through the rumor mill, I found out who the witnesses were.

[mirele]

I'm just going to share a couple of links.

This stuff about Cosby has been known for years.

Mark Ebner (who is a friend of mine, so there's that) reported on these allegations back in 2007 on his blog Hollywood Interrupted. The Daily Beast picked up that reporting today:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -2007.html

And The New Republic has an article theorizing as to why white people didn't want to hear about Cosby's actions, leading off by noting that some of the allegations about sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in Philadelphia Magazine.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120338/tk-tk-tk

(Links not killed because these are big journalism sites.)

One of my lawyer buddies noted today that Cosby may be unable to respond to these allegations because there is at least one settlement out there and Cosby may be restrained by the settlement from saying anything.

[martian]

Cosby's lawyer/spokesperson did basically call it all lies, I think, and then had to come back and specifically exclude the settled case from that charge in a further clarification. Awkward! So, I'm thinking that the woman who settled did at least get it in writing that Cosby couldn't publicly deny raping her and, if so, good for her and her lawyers for managing that.

[tropaka]

another woman has publicly come out

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/2 ... ertainment

I'm sure she'll catch flack for having accepted a hotel room and agreed to be with him for a few weeks, but that still doesn't mean saying yes to drugged rape. I cannot believe some of the reactions on social media - from women - who say "well, if they're not going to police it didn't happen and they just want cash etc and so on".

[CorruptionInc.]

I am a wait and see kind of person on these types of accusations.

I was falsely accused of sexual harassment at work a few years ago and it pretty much ruined my career.

It was proven that the accuser was an employee who was angry at me for being written up for not doing his job properly. He threw all sorts of false accusations out there and I was thoroughly investigated. Many people were interviewed and told of the accusations during the investigation.

I NEVER, EVER did anything remotely close to sexually harassing anyone.

Nothing happened to the accuser. I felt he should have been fired for lying, but we were federal government employees. He was protected by his union.

I ended up quitting a few months later.

---in the end it worked out because I was afforded the opportunity to move closer to family. I am much, much happier in my current job that I ever was in that job.

I am happy to hear it all worked out for you in the end. :)

I used to work with a woman who used to talk about her sex life to everyone all the time, tell anyone who would listen she had an abortion recently and then sit on the desk with her legs wide open with no underwear (I am NOT joking). She used to wear short skirts that wouldn't even pass for hot pants and make sure her g-banger was ALWAYS showing when she bent over.

It was DISGUSTING to say the very least. This women kept getting promoted because if she didn't she cause HUGE scenes and carry on like a little kid. In fact WORSE than a child. She was immature, rude and a really unkind / selfish person.

The same person had a call from her son one day: "Mum I have an interview with my teacher tomorrow night because I'm in trouble."

"I can't come."

"Why not mum, it's important, the teacher really needs to talk to you."

"I can't - I'm having a spray tan, I need to look hot for the client night."

I'm really sorry the ass hat accused you of sexual harrassment Sam, when you didn't even come close to doing anything like that. *hug*

[CorruptionInc.]

I'm just going to share a couple of links.

This stuff about Cosby has been known for years.

Mark Ebner (who is a friend of mine, so there's that) reported on these allegations back in 2007 on his blog Hollywood Interrupted. The Daily Beast picked up that reporting today:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -2007.html

And The New Republic has an article theorizing as to why white people didn't want to hear about Cosby's actions, leading off by noting that some of the allegations about sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in Philadelphia Magazine.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120338/tk-tk-tk

(Links not killed because these are big journalism sites.)

One of my lawyer buddies noted today that Cosby may be unable to respond to these allegations because there is at least one settlement out there and Cosby may be restrained by the settlement from saying anything.

People have been telling their stories of being raped by Bill since 2000. It's sad that it didn't get more press, that the public didn't take note.

It is abhorrent that Bill has done these things. The same man who was ALWAYS on his high horse about morals and giving a good image to his people.

He got rid of Lisa Bonet because he thought she was doing silly things and didn't believe it was appropriate for her to be young and pregnant on his show.

Shame on you Bill, you are lower than a sewer rat.

[DGayle]

A single allegation I'll be skeptical about when it's against a famous person (anyone remember the allegation that Justin Beiber was some girl's baby's father, and it turns out they'd never met?), but there are a lot of them here, and consistent over lots of years. Like Jian, there's too much for me to believe it's all lies.

[Trynn]

Which one was Lisa Bonet?

I'm disappointed. I love the Cosby show.

I have to admit I'm in more of a wait and see mode right now.

[BrownieMomma]

I read a good article about this today.

As noted in this thread, these allegations have been around for a long time, back to the 1960's. I never had a clue. All these years I thought he was a great, moral, upstanding citizen. I even liked his jello commercials.

The article tries to answer why now. Why is all this coming out now?

Found the article.

http://news.yahoo.com/cosby-uproar-prov ... 10596.html

Part of the reason is the Internet. Another reason is that the world back then wanted to believe it was somehow the woman's fault (Eve again /sigh).

It is the way of history. Good people used to think one thing and then come to think something else. Often dismissed as political correctness, it is actually simple progress. And it is slow.

From a personal perspective, 25 years ago when I was attacked by my fiancee, there was not one moment that I actually considered calling the cops or going to the hospital. I was engaged to the guy, we had our license. I wasn't a virgin, in fact I'd already been married and divorced (age 19-22, I was 24 when this occurred). I had gone to a bar with him that night, I knew he'd been drinking, and when he asked, I went to his apartment with him.

I never believed not even for a tiny split second of a moment that there would be legal justice for me. I just wanted to get away from him, try to forget what happened and move on.

I never even told my parents the truth. Maybe three people on this earth know the truth, the rest just think I was engaged, assume I was consensually sexually active and that he must be a jerk who walked out.

I never told the guy. He still does not know. My son is not interested in finding him or meeting him.

This guy was a construction worker. He was not a great and powerful man. He was physically stronger than me. Yet I still honestly in my gut believed that I would not find justice and reports and accusations would instead make me his enemy. I was afraid of escalated violence from him, afraid of my community's reaction, not at all secure that my family would stand with me. So I did nothing about his crime.

I haven't tried Bill Cosby in the court of public opinion. I am open to the possibility that he may have been the victim of extortion attempts. I do believe there are women out there who have twisted thinking, who try to trap powerful men for whatever gain they think they can get. I think that can and does happen. Women like Rielle Hunter exist but John Edwards was no saint either.

I hope these things did not happen, but if they did, I hope Cosby pays and pays for it.

[aquitana]

That was my last post on the Jian Ghomeshi thread. That I think feminist consciousness has seeped into the mainstream enough that men can't get away with what they used to be able to.

I was thinking mostly of men with a lot of power, but even BrownieMomma's story. At least you left and moved on. I think women can speak up now, and at least a portion of the population will believe them, and not just think it's the woman's fault.

[Toothfairy]

I honestly don't know what to believe. If he did it shame on him. He should've been in prison a long time ago if he did. I just don't understand the one woman who accepted money. I hate that. The same with the MJ allegations. Parents sued him for money instead of pressing charges and continued to allow their kids to be with a stranger. If somebody rapes you press charges nor get money. Rapist belong in prison