My cousin, I'll call him fr33lunch, just travelled across the country to visit me and to go see Bill Cosby perform live. He's a very talented fella, I saw him back in the day perform at Eastern Michigan University. But talent does not preclude someone from being a psycho. If this is true, it is extremely disturbing and given the type of behavior and the specific nature of it, I would guess that it happened to more than the two woman that have come forward.
I find it kind of sad that we are still saying "If this is true," especially as this article is explicitly about one woman's struggle to be believed. I mean, at the end of the day, we don't know if anything is true except based on the words of the people involved. Not only has this woman been telling this same story for years, but there have been other accusations and Cosby has additionally made settlements with some of these women. We can't know more than that, but I don't think it looks good for Cosby.Cosby’s sordid sexual history goes back to the 1970s, according to his accusers, but most of the allegations didn’t get any media attention until a 2005 civil lawsuit in which 13 women came forward in support of the main litigant.
I'm listening to the Diane Rehm show right now, they're discussing the Cosby situation. The fact that it's being discussed on the weekly news Roundup means it's big news. It seems Netflix has pulled a special about him, a TV show that was going to be out has been pulled and even TV Land has pulled reruns of the Cosby show. Cosby is going to have to answer or respond. I have a feeling that the truth will come out, which is great.
I'm a pretty strong proponent of innocent until proven guilty in a court if law, that said my only familiarity with this whole thing is from the video in this post and perhaps a similar type of article in the past. I've not studied it and probably won't. Not because I want to excuse Cosby, but because I barely have the time to research the things that I really want to. However, I'd never dismiss or otherwise belittle the woman's account of what happened. I'm inclined to believe her, but the reality is I know very, very little about all of this and when dealing with something of this magnitude, it deserves a dedicated examination. If he did these things though, a "settlement" is bullshit. He ought to be in prison.
I agree that this is a tough situation because I do agree with you on those counts - that Cosby hasn't been tried in a court of law, and why he chose to settle is as much in the air as anything else. Maybe he's guilty and was giving these women hush money; maybe he decided that the costs of a trial (both emotionally, publicly, and monetarily) were not worth it. Then again, I also see things like R. Kelly and OJ Simpson being found not guilty and/or having charges dropped in a case of law. The juxtaposition of these things makes it very hard for me to feel like I can come down on one side or another. But I do think it sucks that this woman has been trying to speak up for 10 years and even now we can only say "if it's true," and probably, that is all we will ever be able to say about it.
As usual, I am late to the conversation but I have thoughts about this discussion. I was a fan of Cosby as a kid because his show spoke to me in a way that I needed at the time. My family situation was pretty tumultuous to say the least, so what I saw on channel 13 on Sunday nights looked like everything that I was missing in my life. --No time here for what that says about my unrealistic expectations based upon the Hollywood portrayal of family & the american dream-- So The Cosby Show has always held a special place in my heart. But, and that is where stuff gets complicated, if he is guilty of this or any similar crime then he should be in jail. Why isn't he in jail? He is rich & his name brings a ton of press. It is troubling enough that the victim of a sex crime is scrutinized for every prior act of indiscretion, but when the victim accuses a person with such clout, they are almost certainly going to come under some heavy interrogation. We have seen so many cases where public opinion has all but sentenced a public figure: Oj Simpson, R Kelly, Michael Jackson, George Zimmerman, etc, yet jury members fail to find the accused guilty at trial. It seems that, come judgement day, the only individuals on trial are the victim and the jury members. Last random thought: If Cosby is innocent of the crimes Barbara Bowen has accused him of, why hasn't he sued her for liable and defamation of character? His silence speaks volumes to me...
I know it's incorrect to react in this way, but whenever I see someone settle a case I tend to be inclined to believe that they are guilty. I try to temper it by reminding myself that there are many reasons someone may choose to settle, including the negative publicity that a trial will inevitably cause, but there it is.
I totally get that, Bill Cosby and his various shows were a huge part of my childhood. Picture Pages, Fat Albert, and the Cosby Show...I watched all of them. That's part of the reason I think that he's able to escape public scrutiny and shaming. All of us feel a similar connection to him and to admit that our affection for him is akin to having an affection for a monster is difficult. What does that say about us? An entire nation was (potentially) not able to recognize the devil, even though he was right there, in front of us every week. Hell, most of us would have let him babysit our children. It's a hard pill to swallow. Still, the effect that his show head is no less real and no less valid. I'm glad it was there for you when you needed it.
He escaped scrutiny because he gave his victims money to drop the charges if it got too close to trial. No trial, no bad press, just allegations. Many of them. Picture Pages, Fat Albert, the various Cosby shows and standup records about loving your mom allowed him to exploit the justice system. Maybe. We'll never know because rape prosecution can be halted for any number of influences on the victim, including money from the accused.
Apparently Cosby calls all the black young comedians to try and get them to stop swearing, clean up their act. This pissed Hannibal Buress off so he's been calling out Cosby as a rapist at his shows recently.