Rape allegations mount against Bill Cosby #1

[Donjeta]

http://time.com/3599978/cosby-show-reruns-rape/

To be clear, I’m not asking here whether it’s “OK” to watch The Cosby Show. The moral question of whether to support an artist financially is a different one (and, as Todd van der Werff points out at Vox, whether or not you watch reruns will make very little difference to Cosby’s bottom line now). I don’t want to police that call, and if we ejected every questionable artist from the canon — abusers, bigots, reprobates — our bookshelves and movie queues would be a lot lighter.

But it seems hard to hear what we’ve been hearing and not feel anything different when watching Cliff Huxtable making faces and dispensing wisdom. “Innocent until proven guilty” is a standard for the courts, for good reason. But it’s not a standard for life. If what you know or hear about an artist affects the way you see their work, you can no more will yourself to feel otherwise than you can force yourself not to blink.

Of course, bad people can create great works. People are complicated. Art is complicated. And so is the question of whether you can separate the art from the artist — the answer is different for every creator and every audience member. Whatever you think of the disturbing allegations against Woody Allen, for instance, there’s a good argument that although his movies have often relied on his persona, they don’t depend on your considering him a morally upstanding person. (Even if some, like Crimes and Misdemeanors, turn on issues of morality.)

With The Cosby Show, though, Bill Cosby the person is throughly and intentionally baked into it— his identity, his persona, his claimed authority. It’s not a show made as if it wants us to separate the art from the artist, and not just because “Cosby” is in the name.

 

[kimi_SFC]

Powerful OpEd in TIME:
Bill Cosby: Rape Allegation and the Power of Silence

http://time.com/3598207/bill-cosby-rape-accusations-silence/?xid=time_readnext





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

NO WONDER COSBY'S KEEPING QUIET: HE COULD STILL BE PROSECUTED

"First, contrary to some reports, not all of Cosby’s accusers claims are blocked by the statute of limitations. For example, the conduct alleged by Andrea Constand—who sued Cosby in 2005 for assault and battery, and in 2006 for defamation after Cosby’s representatives said she was just trying to extort money—took place in 2004. Pennsylvania, where the assault is alleged to have taken place, has a 12-year statute of limitations on sexual assault."

"That means Cosby could still be charged."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...eping-quiet-he-could-still-be-prosecuted.html

 

[Donjeta]

Cosby has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations. Former Pennsylvania prosecutor Bruce L. Castor Jr., who investigated a woman's claims that Cosby had sexually assaulted her in 2004, said Wednesday he decided not to prosecute because he felt there was not enough evidence to get a conviction.

"I wrote my opinion in such a way as I thought conveyed to the whole world that I thought he had done it, he had just gotten away with it because of a lack of evidence," the former Montgomery County district attorney said.

If Cosby hadn't been cooperative with the investigation, "I probably would have arrested him," Castor said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/nbc-scraps-cosby-television-project-27030145

 

[BirdycatNY]

BBM. Excellent post- applies to musicians like Michael Jackson too and athletes and coaches like the recent NFL scandals and Jerry Sandusky and OJ and writers like John Grisham who apologize for those people. :clap::clap::clap::goodpost:

As a society we put these high profile professionals on a pedestal and if they are criminals it's squashed, allowed by insiders. Sandusky and the like, who are guilty of these sick crimes get a pass from executives and higher ups. I suspect it's because they are the "big man on campus" and in the case of Cosby (if true) he was a money maker for many companies and execs. Victims allegedly spoke up but were silenced and maybe now it's all coming out because those big wigs don't care about protecting someone who doesn't have that marketing power. The truth always comes to light, but I wonder if it's suppressed with high powered people for some time. Jmo but date rape and roofied is far too under-reported as it is, but from someone famous fear of retaliation is enormous. jmo

 

[Knitty]

In looking for the tweet, I ran a search "Tempestt Bledsoe Bill Cosby" and there is a story that's out now with an interview.

I'm wondering if she's the unnamed actress in the story posted upthread.

Not sure I can post the link due to TOS.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think that's a serious site. I'm not sure if they think they're funny (they aren't) or whether they have some other motive, though.

 

[nrdsb4]

Her husband, Richard, went further. He said that he would remain a fan of Cosby, no matter what.

“Even if he’s guilty, his personal matters do not come to this arena,” he said. “They’re with him and the Lord and elsewhere. I wanted to bring a sign tonight and say, ‘We Love You, Bill.’

That's just a sick illustration of our societal worship of celebrity. It's one thing to say "I don't believe he is capable of doing that." It's worlds away to say that even if he is guilty of drugging and raping multiple women, those are his "personal matters" and should not have any bearing on his professional life.

That is COMPLETELY MESSED UP.

 

[Donjeta]

http://www.tmz.com/2014/11/21/jon-jones-i-believe-bill-cosby-hes-too-classy-to-be-a-rapist/

UFC champ Jon "Bones" Jones says he doesn't believe the allegations against Bill Cosby -- telling TMZ Sports the actor always seemed way too classy to be a rapist.

Jones was at LAX Friday when he explained why he was on Team Bill -- "I've never met him, but from what I've seen he seems to be a class act. I kinda grew up admiring him."

In fact, Jones also joked that Cosby was such a huge star, he wouldn't need to rape women -- he could have anybody he wants.


Still, Jones adds ... "I hope [the allegations are] not true."

People are very reluctant to admit they could be wrong about someone they admired.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/arts/bill-cosby.html?_r=0

As woman after woman has come forward to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault, there has been growing public revulsion, but also a nagging question: Did it have to be Cliff Huxtable?

He was America’s Dad, the star and co-creator of the most-watched show in America in an era when network television drew big enough audiences to shift the national conversation. Parents and children watched together, identified themselves in the struggles big and small of the characters. Mr. Cosby’s was an old-school obstetrician, the kindly type whom women trusted to guide them to motherhood.

It has made the rising drumbeat of allegations more shattering than typical celebrity misbehavior. Particularly for Americans who grew up with “The Cosby Show,” the transformation of Mr. Cosby’s image has produced the discomfort and struggle akin to coming to terms with the dark past of a family member.

“He reminds me a lot of my own father, or he did,” said David Rhoden, 47, a computer programmer in Austin, Tex. “Let’s make that clear. Reminded me a lot of my own father.”

 

[Donjeta]

Have any of the women who worked with him come forward to defend his character. You know...he was a great guy...could never have done any of this?
If Cosby was a priest and 14 boys came forward 30 years later would you beleive the boys or Cosby?

Kathie Lee Gifford said:

At a red carpet event Friday in New York, People interviewed Today host Kathie Lee Gifford, who often opened for Cosby during her singing days. "I personally never saw him treat a woman the way it's been alleged, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen," she clarifies. I never saw it."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/11/22/bill-cosby-joyce-emmons/19396083/

http://www.people.com/article/kathi...-allegations?xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag

Gifford spoke alongside her Today cohost Hoda Kotb, who turned to Gifford during the interview and asked: "You're not saying he's a terrific guy all around?"

"No, no, no," said Gifford in response. "Nobody is – nobody's perfect. You know, it's ugly. It's just ugly."

 

[Donjeta]

Bill Cosby's lawyers strong-armed tabloid into ditching story on rape claims

A damning 2005 article about two of his accusers was scrapped for a softer interview with the comedian after his lawyers threatened to sue the publication

Lawyers acting for Bill Cosby cajoled the tabloid magazine the National Enquirer into ditching a groundbreaking investigation it had conducted into his alleged sexual misconduct and replacing it with a celebrity interview in which the comic dismissed the claims as money-motivated “misinterpretations”, the Guardian has learned.

The National Enquirer’s investigation was carried out in 2005, just weeks after it first emerged that Cosby had been accused of drugging and molesting a female friend, Andrea Constand. The tabloid magazine dispatched its senior reporter Robin Mizrahi to look into the story.

Mizrahi made contact with a second woman, Beth Ferrier, who alleged that she too had been drugged and sexually molested by the entertainer. The Enquirer brought Ferrier to Los Angeles from her home in Denver, where she was then working as a model, and Mizrahi interviewed her and arranged for her to undergo a lie detector test.

“She passed the polygraph test with flying colors,” Mizrahi told the Guardian. “She had a very, very detailed description of what allegedly happened which I still remember because it was so haunting. She said Cosby had stood over her and then she fell asleep because there was something in her coffee.”

Further details of the exchanges between Cosby’s team and executives at the National Enquirer are given in court documents lodged by Andrea Constand in the course of a civil lawsuit brought by her against Cosby’s lawyer and the magazine. The suit says that the Enquirer “provided a copy of the unpublished Beth Ferrier article to Cosby and his representatives”.

In the Enquirer’s ensuing front-page “exclusive”, Cosby, then 67, was allowed to present his rebuttal of the sexual assault allegations that had only just started to dog him. He argued that “words and actions can be misinterpreted by another person,” adding that “I’m not saying that what I did was wrong, but I apologize to my loving wife … These allegations have caused my family great emotional stress.”

He also cast aspersions on the motives of the women who had raised the allegations, saying: “I am not going to give in to people who try to exploit me because of my celebrity status.”

Mizrahi told the Guardian that she remains “livid” about the spiking of her hard-news investigation in favour of “a ******** feel-good interview with Cosby. I feel sad for the women who tried to speak up and weren’t listened to because he was so powerful and had such effective lawyers.”

Beth Ferrier’s account of how she had been allegedly drugged and molested finally saw the light of day four months after the Enquirer buried it when the Philadelphia Daily News carried its own version. “I want Bill Cosby to know I’m not afraid of him and that what he did to me was wrong,” she said.

And here it is:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1429395/posts

About 21 years ago, after she ended a months-long consensual affair with the entertainer, she says he drugged her when she visited him before a performance in Denver.

"He said, 'Here's your favorite coffee, something I made, to relax you,' " said Ferrier, 46, who at the time worked as a model.

In a telephone interview from her Denver home, Ferrier told how she drank the coffee and soon began to feel woozy. The next thing she knew, several hours had passed, and she had no memory of what happened.

"I woke up and I was in the back of my car all alone," she said. "My clothes were a mess. My bra was undone. My top was untucked. And I'm sitting there going, 'Oh my God. Where am I?' What's going on? I was so out of it. It was just awful."

Security guards approached her car, saying Cosby had told them to get her home, she said.

After gathering her senses, she said she decided to confront Cosby at his hotel.

"You just had too much to drink," she said he told her.

Ferrier has passed a lie-detector test about her claims.

Ferrier said she's aware her personal life may now come under scrutiny. But she said she's willing to take the risk for what she believes is right. She had been working as a special education teacher until an accident disabled her several years ago.

"I want to support Andrea. And I want to support Tamara," Ferrier said. "I want Bill Cosby to know I'm not afraid of him and that what he did to me was wrong."

and he held a grudge about that interview...

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstage/comedy/bill-cosby-05

Looks like Bill Cosby--a load if ever there was one--has not been too pleased with Philadelphia newspaper coverage of his ongoing sex assault lawsuit. Because the Cos now forbids promoters from advertising his hometown concerts in either the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Philadelphia Daily News (not to mention the Boston Globe), according to the 68-year-old comedian's recently revised contract rider, excerpts of which you'll find here.

 

[Morag]

A number of posters on this board have mentioned, either casually or in some detail, having been abused/fondled/etc by a trusted adult or relative. Some 'told' and were not believed.

Some of us never told because we were too humiliated to tell it. We had our reasons for not telling. We didn't want anyone to know we had been assaulted because we were afraid of it being blamed on us or our behavior. We didn't want to tell because we were afraid of not being believed.

If we didn't talk about it, we could then go about forgetting about it. That's how these women felt, and they have tried to forget it. Now that they have 'told', some say they're making it up- for whatever reason- or else they would have told 49 or 35 or 25 or 15 years ago.

Surely any woman or girl or boy or man who had this experience doesn't doubt the reasons these women kept silent.
'

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Thanks Morag....I joined this "club" over 50 years ago and totally get where these women are coming from!

 

[Truthy]

Well I'm glad that it doesn't apply to you but if one reads comment sections one can't fail to notice that most everybody who says they don't believe anyone without evidence are really implying that they don't believe the women who said they were raped.

Yep- there is a whole lot of "she wanted it" out there, and I know they mean she wanted to hang with Cosby- not tht they wanted to be drugged unconscious. It's disgusting, but I think a whole lot of people think it was just the "price they had to pay", and that is disgusting. I'm sure it was exactly that attitude that led many not to report it immediately.

 

[Truthy]

A number of posters on this board have mentioned, either casually or in some detail, having been abused/fondled/etc by a trusted adult or relative. Some 'told' and were not believed.

Some of us never told because we were too humiliated to tell it. We had our reasons for not telling. We didn't want anyone to know we had been assaulted because we were afraid of it being blamed on us or our behavior. We didn't want to tell because we were afraid of not being believed.

If we didn't talk about it, we could then go about forgetting about it. That's how these women felt, and they have tried to forget it. Now that they have 'told', some say they're making it up- for whatever reason- or else they would have told 49 or 35 or 25 or 15 years ago.

Surely any woman or girl or boy or man who had this experience doesn't doubt the reasons these women kept silent.
'

Yep- you just have to look to Mama June (herself a victim at age 12) or the "friends" of the student at UVA who reported a gang rape. Many people will be around to discourage reporting- friends and family give the victim the first taste of how badly they will be treated if they come forward.

 

[Truthy]

NO WONDER COSBY'S KEEPING QUIET: HE COULD STILL BE PROSECUTED

"First, contrary to some reports, not all of Cosby’s accusers claims are blocked by the statute of limitations. For example, the conduct alleged by Andrea Constand—who sued Cosby in 2005 for assault and battery, and in 2006 for defamation after Cosby’s representatives said she was just trying to extort money—took place in 2004. Pennsylvania, where the assault is alleged to have taken place, has a 12-year statute of limitations on sexual assault."

"That means Cosby could still be charged."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...eping-quiet-he-could-still-be-prosecuted.html

In criminal court could any of the other incidents be recounted? Sadly, that is what it takes to get someone who has made sure- through drugs- that no victims have "credible" testimony. It seems a few women weren't certain they were drugged till it happened a second time.

 

[Truthy]

That's just a sick illustration of our societal worship of celebrity. It's one thing to say "I don't believe he is capable of doing that." It's worlds away to say that even if he is guilty of drugging and raping multiple women, those are his "personal matters" and should not have any bearing on his professional life.

That is COMPLETELY MESSED UP.

Yeah, leaving it up to the lord? Screw that, we have a justice system- and one that failed these women because too many people want to keep their heads in the sand.

 

[Truthy]

NO WONDER COSBY'S KEEPING QUIET: HE COULD STILL BE PROSECUTED

"First, contrary to some reports, not all of Cosby’s accusers claims are blocked by the statute of limitations. For example, the conduct alleged by Andrea Constand—who sued Cosby in 2005 for assault and battery, and in 2006 for defamation after Cosby’s representatives said she was just trying to extort money—took place in 2004. Pennsylvania, where the assault is alleged to have taken place, has a 12-year statute of limitations on sexual assault."

"That means Cosby could still be charged."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...eping-quiet-he-could-still-be-prosecuted.html

I am torn because I do not think he will be successfully prosecuted due to the drugging aspect, and he'd likely have minions lie for him.
But it might be something the nation needs to see, how credible cases against a serial offender are so very stacked against the victim. I think many people are naive about that.

 

[Donjeta]

http://time.com/3599394/bill-cosby-accusers-cosby-show-fans/

I can get over the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. cheated on his wife, but I don’t care that the Nazis made the trains run on time. Making that call is a moral calculus: when do the negative aspects of a public figure outweigh the positive? Granted, in Bill Cosby’s case, we’re talking about a comedian, but the question is relevant for The Cosby Show‘s legacy. Should I think less of The Cosby Show‘s power to teach and to change perceptions of race in America if it turns out Bill Cosby is a rapist?

Why Is the Smithsonian Standing Behind Bill Cosby?
The comedian thinks people should have "the integrity not to ask" about the allegations against him. The institution apparently agrees.

“

When you choose to launch a show about a collector, rather than a show about art, you’re putting the collector on the pedestal, rather than artists and art and its history,” says art critic Tyler Green, host of the popular Modern Art Notes podcast and blog. Green, an art-world watchdog, has been a vociferous critic of exhibitions like “Conversations,” collector-driven shows in which the focus is the pursuit of artworks, rather than an artist or a theme. “That can go south really fast, and here, it has.”

That would be for the best. In the AP video interview with Cosby, the gallery goes to a dark place. What happens in the room is an abuse of the dignity of an art museum. It’s not just Cosby telling Zongker to shut down the conversation, but several people. It’s not just the reporter that this room wants silenced, but by extension the women who have testified about their pain. One man from Cosby’s retinue tells Zongker that another AP reporter accepted Cosby’s refusal to discuss the allegations against him—and so should he. A woman off-screen whom Cosby doesn’t appear to know (he refers to her as “ma’am&#8221 confirms Cosby’s opinion about Zongker’s line of questioning: “I don’t think it has any value, either.”

“We thought, by the way, because it was AP, that it wouldn’t be necessary to go over that question with you,” Cosby tells Zongker. (The original November 10 story mentions the allegations in the final paragraph of a 1,000-word piece on Cosby’s collection.) “We thought AP had the integrity to not ask,” Cosby adds.

Now it’s the museum’s turn to prove its mettle. Does the Smithsonian have the integrity not to ask? Or does it have the integrity the situation deserves?

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...thsonian-standing-behind-bill-cosby/383034/2/

http://laist.com/2014/11/21/two_more_actresses_say_bill_cosby_s.php

Cosby does his stand-up routine sitting down these days, but he had the audience roaring. I was floored by his talent — the way he spun out multiple threads of narrative until he seemed hopelessly lost in digression, then somehow pulled everything together at the end. He’s still got it.

So was I having a jolly old time with a serial rapist?

It is possible that all the women who accuse Cosby of sexual predation are lying, in the sense that anything not prohibited by the laws of physics is possible. But it doesn’t seem very likely.

I confess that I’m having trouble squaring the allegations with the man I was with that day. I suspect many people may be experiencing the same kind of cognitive dissonance. Cosby has spent his long, groundbreaking career in the entertainment industry being such a good guy. How could he possibly be such a bad guy, too?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...07de24-70f6-11e4-893f-86bd390a3340_story.html


http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/files/2014/11/meme-guide-21.png
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...me-after-the-bill-cosby-fiasco-a-quick-guide/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...0/can-we-save-cliff-huxtable-from-bill-cosby/

I think a clear line is emerging. And that line is not quite where I thought it was. It’s not when people feel you’re a bad person who has wrecked lives that they stop accepting what you’ve made. It’s when people feel that because of your art or your celebrity, we’ve let you get away with it. That because you were so good at making something, we allowed you to wreck actual lives with seeming impunity.

And much of this does revolve around sexual assault. This kind of maker’s privilege has been afforded mostly to men, often to men who were cavalier or worse with female lives, men who threw ashtrays and tantrums and hit people but they were Geniuses so It Was Okay.

This kind of “yes, but I am a great man” immunity doesn’t fly any more. Now, if people feel that because of your work, you have not been held accountable for your behavior, they start to feel uncomfortable about your work. What was that laugh worth, in trauma? Was that crane shot really good enough to keep you from ever facing trial? We start to weigh art in ways you shouldn’t have to, because it’s impossible to make a calculus like that. It’s not commensurate with reality that way.

On November 19, 2014 at 6:00 AM
Bill Cosby Is Over
BY Lindy West

I'm just going to call it. Bill Cosby is done. There will be no comeback, there will be no damage control, there will be no prevailing core of true believers tipping public opinion back in his favor. It's over.

At this point, at least 14 women have accused Cosby of raping or sexually assaulting them, using a combination of drugs, physical force, and his own fame. More have reportedly come forward privately, unable or unwilling to confront such a powerful, rich man in public. On Cosby's part, he's responded by shaking his head in silence and dismissing the allegations through an attorney as "discredited" (they weren't). In a statement on his website posted Sunday, Cosby's lawyer wrote, "The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."

Sure. Okay. But the fact that a rich, charismatic alleged abuser apparently managed to shut a lot of women up doesn't make those women liars either.

Accuser Barbara Bowman offered a sickening analysis of Cosby's alleged tactics in Vice on Monday:

He needs weak, powerless, controllable women who won't fight back or who can't fight back. By introducing drugs into the mixture and doping up women, he puts you into a position where you can't do anything. You do not have any control. I've had some victims reach out to me since the Daily Mail article came out, random women who are also victims of Bill Cosby who are not documented, who found me and reached out to me and gave me their story who will not talk. I'm working on them, but they will not talk. Some of them escaped by crawling out of the door and crawling into the street and somehow getting home, barely conscious.

There simply is no coming back from that, and it's telling that Cosby and his lawyer haven't even really tried.

 

[newone]

regarding the cancellation of reruns......

While BC may not be too ''damaged'' by the loss of residual income what about the rest of the cast??

Would be ''interesting'' if the others in the cast might consider suing BC for loss of potential income JMHO

 

[gitana1]

Where are the 17??? My question is why all of a sudden. Why? after 20 -30 years???

Seems someone Cosby is getting old and it's time to try and cash in. I don't believe it at all. Just strange when all these women start coming out of the woodwork at the same time. Did they all go to police around the time the rape occurred?

Were all the kids who suddenly came out of the woodwork to accuse Sandusky also liars? How about all the adults who wait decades before suddenly accusing priests? Are they liars too? All the women who accused the San Diego mayor? Also liars because their allegations came at the same time? The women who had affairs with a tiger Woods and suddenly began coming forth, also liars?

Many sex abuse victims are certain they won't be believed. And many are not. Add intense power or fame into the mix, it is very difficult to get a victim to speak up.

I get that there is a concern about witch hunts. But typically, those on witch hunts go after someone the community may not like or may not know well.

Why do people often wait and suddenly all come forward around the same time? It's simple: Strength in numbers. One may not be believed. 10 might.

I've loved Cosby for a long time. He is easily one of the best comedians in history. As an older comic, he is able to do an hour long show of all new material. That is insane. It's hard for younger comics to come up with more than 10 minutes. The best can stretch to 30 minutes of new material. As we age, creativity and energy decline, yet Cosby can do an hour of all new stuff, with ease. He is undeniably brilliant.

And he he has clean, relatable routines that kids can even listen to (except maybe that weird Spanish fly bit).

Finally, his twinkling-eyed humor on Kids Say the Darndest Things and the Cosby Show is filled with compassion. You can tell he adores children.

It is quite hard to accept such allegations against a man like that.

But evil is not so black and white. And to me there is a deep tinge of truth to most of the allegations. I find Cosby's reaction somewhat disconcerting as well.

Yeah, there may not be enough ever for a prosecution. But that doesn't mean he didn't do it. That doesn't mean these women are liars and that doesn't mean he can or should escape all consequences of his probable behavior. Bad publicity may be one of those consequences.