Bill Cosby

[DaisyDay]

Thanks to a viral video of a stand-up comedian's riff on Cosby (allegedly) being a serial rapist, the rumors and charges have resurfaced and new ones have appeared. His new show for NBC is no longer in development and Netflix has cancelled the Thanksgiving special it had planned.

Timeline: Abuse Charges Against Bill Cosby -- Vulture

ETA: I tried to put in a poll but it didn't take:

1. It doesn't matter either way - it was a long time ago and he still entertains
2. He's innocent - this is yet another liberal plot to destroy a conservative black man
3. He's innocent - greedy, vindictive women are out to destroy a famous man and profit from his destruction
4. He's probably innocent - he's a good man
5. He may be innocent - it's just he said, they said, so it is impossible to determine
6. He's probably guilty - too many women telling a similar story with little to gain
7. He's definitely guilty - where there is smoke there is fire

 

[ThisBrotherOfHis]

I have a difficult time accepting 30-year-old allegations that were never prosecuted, and I have an even more difficult time with accusers coming out of the woodwork once money was paid out.

Janice Dickinson? She thinks there's nothing wrong with Miley Cyrus' antics, she has a syndicated reality show that promotes nude modeling, she's had almost as much plastic surgery as Michael Jackson, but she waits 32 years to say anything about an alleged attack? Another accuser comes forward last month after 45 years?

For all I know Bill Cosby is a rapist. But someone needs to prove it before they start labeling him as such. I don't see much here but failed careers trying to make a buck off an old guy they think can't or won't defend himself.

 

[DaisyDay]

I have a difficult time accepting 30-year-old allegations that were never prosecuted, and I have an even more difficult time with accusers coming out of the woodwork once money was paid out.

Janice Dickinson? She thinks there's nothing wrong with Miley Cyrus' antics, she has a syndicated reality show that promotes nude modeling, she's had almost as much plastic surgery as Michael Jackson, but she waits 32 years to say anything about an alleged attack? Another accuser comes forward last month after 45 years?

For all I know Bill Cosby is a rapist. But someone needs to prove it before they start labeling him as such. I don't see much here but failed careers trying to make a buck off an old guy they think can't or won't defend himself.

So you're going with #3?

 

[ThisBrotherOfHis]

So you're going with #3?

Sorry, I'm at a complete loss as to understand how you could come to that conclusion.

I think you need to read my post again -- carefully this time.

 

[DaisyDay]

Sorry, I'm at a complete loss as to understand how you could come to that conclusion.

"I don't see much here but failed careers trying to make a buck off an old guy they think can't or won't defend himself."

I think you need to read my post again -- carefully this time.

#5 then? You could just say.

 

[ThisBrotherOfHis]

"I don't see much here but failed careers trying to make a buck off an old guy they think can't or won't defend himself."

You left out "For all I know, Bill Cosby is a rapist." Doesn't exactly fit with #3, does it?

#5 then? You could just say.

I could, but none of your numbered choices really fits my opinion.

Bottom line is, if it wasn't Bill Cosby, we wouldn't even know about it. You think some comedian would try to make a buck doing a riff on Joe Schmo from Kokomo? You think women are going to come out of the woodwork to accuse John Doe of sexual assault after 30 years or more of being silent? You think people would be making a fuss over any of this if it involved juicy allegations against a nobody, guilty or not?

 

[bhsmte]

I will go with 5.5.

He may be innocent and he may be guilty.

I have no idea, without knowing more specifics and seeing evidence of the allegations.

 

[pgp_protector]

Don't know.

 

[keith99]

I read through the timeline. A couple of things stood out to me.

Cosby claims he does not even know one of the accusers. But there is no followup. If he did know her that would seem to be easy to verify. Why no followup? Actually once that seed is planted why no information regarding attempts to confirm or deny the possibility of other claims. E.g. seeing if he and the accuser were at least in the city claimed at the time claimed?

Other direction is that Cosby claims that one of the 'herbal' pills given was in fact benadryl. Claim was he gave her 3, he says 1 1/2. This is an antihistamine, but a side effect is drowsiness and it is now a common sleeping pill. It is not a knockout drug.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Don't know, don't care. Was that one of the selections? I skimmed the OP.

 

[JustMeSee]

It does to the alleged victims and potential victims. Seeking civil justice fails to hold the weight of guilt in a criminal court.

The alleged crimes should be handled upon first surfacing.

I don't know what he did if anything. I could probably guess that some cases have validity.

Personally, I see him as an entertainer and decent spokesperson. That is not easily ignored. People good do and bad things.

Roman Polanski is a convicted child abuser to my knowledge. He is also a great director with pain of a murdered wife. His work can't be ignored.

Michael Jackson, in my opinion, did very inappropriate things with other people's sons. He was a great entertainer beside the point.

Legacy. His will likely be forever tarnished guilty or not.

 

[DaisyDay]

Don't know, don't care. Was that one of the selections? I skimmed the OP.

That was #1, more or less.

 

[Oafman]

Either he's guilty, or there is a broad conspiracy against him. The former seems more likely on cursory inspection.

Today on Sky News (a low quality UK news channel) it said "these allegations are unlikely to get to court because of their age". Is there any truth to that?

 

[ThisBrotherOfHis]

Either he's guilty, or there is a broad conspiracy against him. The former seems more likely on cursory inspection.

Today on Sky News (a low quality UK news channel) it said "these allegations are unlikely to get to court because of their age". Is there any truth to that?

Statute of limitations. The "newest" allegation is from 25 years ago.

 

[grasping the after wind]

I would be saddened if these allegations are true as I had always considered Bill Cosby to be a decent and honorable man. Of course , all I ever have known of him is the public persona which may well be entirely different than the real person. As for your poll the closest i can come to reflecting my present view is #5 but again, I have a bias in the man's favor as I have been a fan of his since I was a child. He must be getting really old. BTW I don't know if one could call Bill Cosby a conservative. He said a few words about the lifestyle choices of some of the other members of his race that might be considered conservative but most of his political views are not conservative as far as I know.

 

[FreeSpirit74]

IDK.

On the one hand, I can really identify with the actress (Barbara Bowman I think is her name) who claims he played the "father figure" to her, when he was in fact grooming her to become a victim of his sexual proclivities, because that was done to me by the same type of person - one who puts out that same air of "someone to look up to", who is funny, smart, the "life of the party." What the other 99% of people who know the guy didn't know was that he was cheating on his girlfriend with me and at least one other woman (and didn't tell either of us that he was making the choice for us as to whether or not we would be involved in that scenario). If they were ever told about "that" side of him, they'd never believe it.

On the other hand, it may be women hopping on the "He abused/raped me" bandwagon, trying to bring down his reputation. Who knows??? And more importantly, where is the proof????? If it came down to it, I could prove my experience mentioned above because I have voice mail recordings from the guy I was involved with where he makes direct reference to our intimate relationship (not that they are needed anymore - his girlfriend dumped him over a year ago when I let her know what he was up to). But where is these women's proof? Just saying something happened doesn't make it so.

 

[JaxKH]

He can't be prosecuted due statue of limitations, but his career can be finished. At his age, how can you come back if he doesn't address all these allegations. His reruns are being cancelled, NBC and Netflix have dropped him. He can't just remain silent and hope it goes away. He might as well retire.

 

[DaisyDay]

Whoopi Goldberg defends Cosby:

Whoopi Goldberg Skeptical of Bill Cosby Rape Accuser - " I Have a Lot of Questions for Her " - YouTube

 

[KWCrazy]

Given the number of accusation against him I think there must be something to it. It's strange that they waited until his advanced age before making such claims. It definitely gives them an advantage since he wouldn't be able to defend himself with the same ability to recall details so many years later as they could. However, none of the sexual assaults had any negative effect on how he conducted business, so they should be dismissed. After all, why should a comedian be held to a higher standard than and American president who had sexual assault allegations from 17 different women? Liberals lost their ability to be outraged when they excused the same behavior with Bill Clinton. In fact, I would be surprised if Cosby doesn't become more popular than ever. After all, if one serial rapist can be a rock star with the Democratic Party, than why shouldn't another be excused from the same offenses? Is it because he's black? Is this the racist reaction of people who cared nothing about sexual assault when the white guy did it?

You can't have selective moral outrage. If you supported Clinton but condemn Cosby you MUST be a racist.

You know, it kind of feels good to rub the liberals noses in their own hypocrisy.

 

[RDKirk]

Given the number of accusation against him I think there must be something to it. It's strange that they waited until his advanced age before making such claims. It definitely gives them an advantage since he wouldn't be able to defend himself with the same ability to recall details so many years later as they could. However, none of the sexual assaults had any negative effect on how he conducted business, so they should be dismissed. After all, why should a comedian be held to a higher standard than and American president who had sexual assault allegations from 17 different women? Liberals lost their ability to be outraged when they excused the same behavior with Bill Clinton. In fact, I would be surprised if Cosby doesn't become more popular than ever. After all, if one serial rapist can be a rock star with the Democratic Party, than why shouldn't another be excused from the same offenses? Is it because he's black? Is this the racist reaction of people who cared nothing about sexual assault when the white guy did it?

You can't have selective moral outrage. If you supported Clinton but condemn Cosby you MUST be a racist.

You know, it kind of feels good to rub the liberals noses in their own hypocrisy.

I don't know if you can call it "hypocrisy" unless and until "liberals" come out in some kind of mass recrimination of Cosby.

At this point, the only reaction I'm seeing is some cancellation of his various media contracts...but the media always does that with controversial celebrities--such as Paula Deen--so that's nothing different.