Bill Cosby

[Trynn]

Also, it could be that some women are telling the truth, while others are jumping at a chance to get some media attention. Kind of like copycat crimes throwing things off for investigators (except reporting real victimization isn't a crime, it's not a perfect comparison.)

[CorruptionInc.]

Also, it could be that some women are telling the truth, while others are jumping at a chance to get some media attention. Kind of like copycat crimes throwing things off for investigators (except reporting real victimization isn't a crime, it's not a perfect comparison.)

And who knows who is telling the truth and who is lying.

[Palimpsest]

Just leaving this here. It's the best article I've seen so far on the complexities of the Cosby accusations. thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/24/bill_cosby_himself_narcissism_fame_and_sexual_violence

[NjoyingNsanity]

I'm really disappointed, as a child of the 80's I grew up on the Cosby show like most of my generation did, and yet I can't bring myself to disbelieve his accusers because there are just too many corroborating accounts. Then there is the fact that Cosby has come off as increasingly smarmy and conservative over recent years, and in my experience those types have more than a few skeletons in their closets. The more someone carries on about the morals of others/society the more it points to trying to deflect from their own moral shortcomings. just my humble opinion and your mileage may vary, but it's just something I've observed over the years. :think:

[ExMW]

He was a stand-up comedian playing the BIG cities in 1963, on the Tonight Show in 1964, starred in the very popular I Spy in 1965 for which he won 3 Emmy awards, in 1968 he turned down a 5-yr 3.5 million dollar recording contract renewal offer to instead start his own recording label. Yes, he was VERY famous in the 60s.

Yes, Bill Cosby was HUGE in the 60s - just not Heathcliff Huxtable famous. The whole "chocolate cake for breakfast" shtick came out of the 60s, my sister had the comedy album. lol He could be pretty raunchy back then too, he wasn't always the clean dad of the 80s that so many people now remember him as.

[CorruptionInc.]

One of Cosby's recordings from the 60's or 70's (on youtube - don't know the name, sorry) has Bill using euphemisms to describe drugging and raping a woman. Disgusting.

[FearLyss]

I haven't followed this thread, as the usual good lurker that I am, but I was shocked to see so many people think he didn't do it, or were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I am a Philadelphian, where we have (had) an unhealthy obsession with the man. I am Temple U alum, and he spoke (via video) at my graduation. I loved him too. I looked up to him. Hearing these accusations were hard, but it didn't take all 30 women for me to accept it.

He did it. Over 30 women came forward, and perhaps some are just latching on for a chance at money, but I doubt most are.

The words of a large group of women must mean something against one celebrity male.

[aquitana]

I agree, I'm from Phillie and both my parents went to Temple. He's like a god there. But I tend to believe women when they speak of sexual abuse.

[may2]

Jay Leno on Bill Cosby,

“I don’t know why it’s so hard to believe women,†the former “Tonight Show†host, 64, said onstage during an interview at NATPE Wednesday.

“You go to Saudi Arabia and you need two women to testify against a man. Here you need 25,†Leno added.

[Mama Mia]

I haven't followed this thread, as the usual good lurker that I am, but I was shocked to see so many people think he didn't do it, or were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I am a Philadelphian, where we have (had) an unhealthy obsession with the man. I am Temple U alum, and he spoke (via video) at my graduation. I loved him too. I looked up to him. Hearing these accusations were hard, but it didn't take all 30 women for me to accept it.

He did it. Over 30 women came forward, and perhaps some are just latching on for a chance at money, but I doubt most are.

The words of a large group of women must mean something against one celebrity male.

I didn't re-read the whole thread, but I don't recall anyone being adamant he didn't do anything. Just concerned that the whole trial by social media could become even worse than events in the 80's - like the Mc Martin pre-school scandal. Which had some very similar elements. And that was before you even had the Internet.

My PERSONAL opinion, is that many of these women are telling the truth -- but I think some of them are purely latching on , a few are recasting consensual experiences to make it sound non- consensual to latch on -- and once they brought in Nancy Grace my belief that SOME of these women are just greedy went up exponentially.

And, I'll just say it -- as someone who has been raped -- I think when some 50 year old woman (my age) gets up on TV, with her sleazy lawyer, and is literally crying because she Felt sick after having a drink, and LEFT before anything happened, or how her life was ruined and she still has nightmares because he grabbed her ass or kissed her and she didn't like it and LEFT before anything else happened --- I just want to :pull-hair: :angry-banghead: :pull-hair: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: .

To the women he raped, they should do everything they can to expose him -- but to these others? Fuck them. If they want to tell their story to support others accounts that he engaged in that type of behavior, fine. But jumping on the media circus / gravy train when nothing actually happened to them, or they are changing motivations and events to fit an agenda? Really, really insulting and demeaning to women who have been traumatized by sexual abuse

[shedemei]

I didn't re-read the whole thread, but I don't recall anyone being adamant he didn't do anything. Just concerned that the whole trial by social media could become even worse than events in the 80's - like the Mc Martin pre-school scandal. Which had some very similar elements. And that was before you even had the Internet.

This is a huge problem, and I don't know how to balance not trying the accused in the court of public opinion against the need to not blame/shame/discredit the victim.

Society really needs to do some soul-searching on thus topic.

[may2]

Producer Alan Ladd’s Wife Accuses Bill Cosby of Drugging, Raping Her in 1969

Cindra Ladd, a former film industry exec and wife of producer Alan Ladd Jr., is the latest woman to accuse Bill Cosby of raping and drugging her years ago.

In a first-person article published by Huffington Post, Ladd recounts her experience with Cosby when she was 21 and working for producer Ray Stark in New York. Ladd asserts that after becoming friendly in a nonsexual way with Cosby, she was heading to a movie with him one evening when he gave her a pill that he said would help her headache.

“For more than 45 years I have tried to recall exactly what happened that night. To this day it remains a blur. I have a vague recollection of feeling like I was floating while walking through Times Square and watching some kind of Japanese samurai movie with him. I don’t remember where the theater was nor very much of the evening,†Ladd wrote. “What I do recall, vividly and clearly, is waking up the next morning nude in the bed of his friend’s apartment and seeing Cosby wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe and acting as if there was nothing unusual. It was obvious to me that he had had sex with me. I was horrified, embarrassed and ashamed.â€

Ladd wrote that it “never occurred to me†to contact law enforcement, given Cosby’s stature as an entertainer and in an era before “date rape†was recognized as a crime. She told her husband about the incident nine years ago, when another woman accused Cosby of similar acts, Ladd wrote.

Ladd joins more than two dozen women who have come forward during the past few months to accuse Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. The scandal has cost the 77-year-old comedian a sitcom development deal at NBC and a comedy special that was to air in November on Netflix. Ticket sales to Cosby’s live appearances have fallen sharply in many cities although he has dates scheduled through at least May, according to his website.

Reps for Cosby have denied many of the allegations. Friends and family members, including his wife Camille, have recently criticized the news media for the damage done to the entertainer’s reputation and for failure to scrutinize the women making the claims.

Reps for Cosby did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Ladd’s allegations.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/produce ... 201415339/

[Cleopatra7]

I wasn't sure if I should resurrect this old thread or start a new one, so the mods can split this off if need be, but it looks like the day of reckoning is finally coming for Bill Cosby:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/bill-cosby-criminally-charged-2004-sex-assault-case-n487876

Quote

Pennsylvania prosecutors on Wednesday announced they have filed charges against comedian Bill Cosby in an alleged sexual assault encounter with a woman 12 years ago.

Cosby was charged with aggravated indecent assault, a first-degree felony, Montgomery County District Attorney-elect Kevin Steele said at a news conference. He will be arraigned later Wednesday afternoon.

"Today, we are able to seek justice on behalf of the victim," Steele said.

Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, told police the once-beloved TV father figure drugged and violated her at his home in Cheltenham Township, near Philadelphia, in 2004.

Whether Cosby's actually convicted is a whole other kettle of fish, but I'm surprised that he was even able to be charged with anything.

[Buzzard]

PA has a 12 year statute of limitations, so given that the allegations were january of 2004, they had to be filed now or it was gone.  I would expect the first motion to be a violation of the right to a speedy trial. The defense will argue that the state knew or should have known about the allegations in the past and violated his rights by waiting this long to file charges.  Considering that the civil suit was settled in 2006, that will be a very hard case for the state to defend.

 

[AmazonGrace]

http://interactives.ap.org/2015/cosby-criminal-complaint/

[47of74]

On 1/18/2015 at 8:54 AM, NjoyingNsanity said:

I'm really disappointed, as a child of the 80's I grew up on the Cosby show like most of my generation did, and yet I can't bring myself to disbelieve his accusers because there are just too many corroborating accounts. Then there is the fact that Cosby has come off as increasingly smarmy and conservative over recent years, and in my experience those types have more than a few skeletons in their closets. The more someone carries on about the morals of others/society the more it points to trying to deflect from their own moral shortcomings. just my humble opinion and your mileage may vary, but it's just something I've observed over the years.

I also grew up during the Cosby Show years.  Kind of sad to see someone I used to look up to end like this but he now has to pay the price for what he did. 

With the Cosby Show I remember there was this scene that probably didn't raise too many alarm bells at the time, but now that we know more it comes off as really creepy...

 

 

[AliceInFundyland]

It's difficult to comprehend how people can have the two sides. It isn't exactly the same but it reminds me of the debates we have about the Bates. 

He did so much to promote positive African American culture. I read somewhere that Malcom Jamal Warner said he was truly saddened that the show's legacy had become so tarnished. I suspect everyone involved probably feels like that. 

It was a show I would watch as a rerun frequently. There are scenes that are like some of my favorite sitcom moments ever. (...the ones where the kids all sang for the grandparents....the ones with Wallace Shawn....the ones with the Muppets) It's hard for my brain to know what to do with that. It does make that bbq scene a little creepy. 

I guess it just turned the memories from yellow to sort of blue. Bleh. Ugh.

 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, AliceInFundyland said:

I read somewhere that Malcom Jamal Warner said he was truly saddened that the show's legacy had become so tarnished.

I'm sad too.  I can only imagine how the cast and crew feel.  It was such a good show, and Cosby was so good in it.  I still can't believe this is who he really is. Smh.

[Cleopatra7]

50 minutes ago, AliceInFundyland said:

He did so much to promote positive African American culture. I read somewhere that Malcom Jamal Warner said he was truly saddened that the show's legacy had become so tarnished. I suspect everyone involved probably feels like that. 

Usually it's the child stars who tarnish the name of a show (or at least make watching reruns uncomfortable), but in this case it's the so-called father figure who ruined it for everyone.

[Ali]

I grew up watching this show too. I was planning on watching reruns with my kids someday. I probably would have already started watching it with my five year old if the news about him had not come out. It is sad that there are no family shows on anymore and a good quality series is now tarnished.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I was watching an exchange on CNN last night that make me cringe.  Don Lemon was talking to Gloria Allred (lawyer for 29 of the alleged victims) and a criminal defense attorney who is not involved with the case.  The defense attorney was talking about how you need to investigate every aspect of each of these women's lives, look for any skeletons in the closet....and then he goes on to question why they would wait so long to report the rapes.

Well, he just answered his own question.  What victim would want to be essentially put on trial herself?

[IreneIssh]

43 minutes ago, 2xx1xy1JD said:

I was watching an exchange on CNN last night that make me cringe.  Don Lemon was talking to Gloria Allred (lawyer for 29 of the alleged victims) and a criminal defense attorney who is not involved with the case.  The defense attorney was talking about how you need to investigate every aspect of each of these women's lives, look for any skeletons in the closet....and then he goes on to question why they would wait so long to report the rapes.

Well, he just answered his own question.  What victim would want to be essentially put on trial herself?

Oh, jeez. That's awful, and you're right, that sort of statement proves exactly why they wouldn't.

I watched the 20/20 interview with 25+ of the victims a few months back, and I found a lot of the interviewers questions really cringe-worthy then too. I felt like she was trying to ask questions that the critics of the women would want to ask, but that's not how she phrased it, and it came off as strangely accusatory and mean. I kept yelling at the TV that she was being an asshole.

I'm so sick of seeing news commentators talk about sexual assault. They very rarely have a nuanced view of the subject and too often end up saying some really insensitive shit. 

[ShepherdontheRock]

Well, I hope if these are in fact true, which I have a feeling they are, since so many people are coming forward, that he will be held criminally accountable and at least do some jail time.

6 hours ago, IreneIssh said:

.I'm so sick of seeing news commentators talk about sexual assault. They very rarely have a nuanced view of the subject and too often end up saying some really insensitive shit. 

I agree.

Also, I don't get the feeling the black community is particularly happy with Cosby for being the ultimate preacher of respectability politics while perpetuating rape culture. I mean, I think he's trash too. I'd rather someone's pants sag than they be a serial rapist.

[Toothfairy]

I still can't believe a black man could actually get away with something like this. Especially in the 60s. And I still watch the Cosby show. It's a very good show. Just like I still listen to rkelly. 

 

Is 7th heaven still on air?

[EmCatlyn]

On December 31, 2015 at 10:11 PM, AbandonAllHope said:

I'm sad too.  I can only imagine how the cast and crew feel.  It was such a good show, and Cosby was so good in it.  I still can't believe this is who he really is. Smh.

This isn't "who he really is." This is PART of who he really is.  He has a bad side, but he also did good things.  It is hard to reconcile the opposites, but the bad doesn't erase the good. 

Most public figures have more than one side.  Many famous people have a major "tragic flaw."  Cosby-the-sexual-predator is one side of a bigger personality.  

17 hours ago, Ali said:

I grew up watching this show too. I was planning on watching reruns with my kids someday. I probably would have already started watching it with my five year old if the news about him had not come out. It is sad that there are no family shows on anymore and a good quality series is now tarnished.

Don't let it tarnish the series.  The series was fiction.  The Huxtables are a fictional family.  They remain what they always were.  Bill Cosby, an actor, played the part of Dr Huxtable.  He was not Dr Huxtable.