Bill Cosby, married to his wife Camille for more than 50 years, was one of the most recognizable comedians in the world. A graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia where he starred in track, the 77-year-old, in 2014, still resided in eastern Pennsylvania. When the former TV star began criticizing certain aspects of black culture he became a somewhat controversial figure. While many considered him a courageous speaker of the truth, liberals and some members of the black community considered him a traitor to his race.
In November 2014 Mr. Cosby's good name and wholesome image came under public attack in connection with allegations of past behavior that violently clashed with his longstanding public persona. On November 16, 2014 64-year-old Joan Tarshis told a CNN interviewer that Cosby, in 1969 when she was nineteen, knocked her out with a drugged drink and raped her.
Tarshis said she met Bill Cosby in 1969 over lunch in Los Angeles. She accompanied him back to his bungalow on the set of "The Bill Cosby Show" to work on some comedy routines. After she drank a Bloody Mary he had mixed for her she passed out. She awoke to find him removing her underwear. In an effort to avoid being sexually assaulted she told him she had an infection that he'd pass on to his wife. Instead of raping her Mr. Cosby allegedly forced her to give him oral sex. She did not tell anyone, not even her mother, about what had happened.
Cosby later called Tarshis at her home in New York to invite her to watch him perform at The Theater at Westbury. She accepted drinks at Cosby's hotel and in his limousine before the performance. While at the theater she began to feel drugged. She asked the chauffeur to take her home. She passed out in limo. The next morning she woke up naked in a hotel bed next to Cosby.
Out of "guilt and shame," Joan Tarshis did not reveal that Cosby had sexually assaulted her for the second time. She didn't think that anyone would take her word over a man revered as America's dad.
On Saturday November 16, 2014 Scott Simon, in an interview on NPR, repeatedly asked Cosby if the rape allegations were true. Each time Cosby simply shook his head no.
The Cosby rape allegation scandal intensified the next day when a reporter with Village Voice wrote about a comedy routine on a 1969 Cosby album involving "Spanish Fly," a drug that supposedly made women beg for sex. As part of the comedy bit Bill Cosby joked that when he visited Spain he tried to acquire the drug.
Janice Dickinson, the 59-year-old former supermodel sat for an interview conducted by "Entertainment Tonight" co-host Kevin Frazier that aired on November 18, 2014. According to Dickinson, Bill Cosby had sexually assaulted her in 1982 after they had dinner in Lake Tahoe. He had invited her there to open a show for him. After dinner at his hotel he gave her a pill and a glass of red wine. She passed out. "The last thing I remember," she said, "was Bill Cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me."
Dickinson told the "Entertainment Tonight" interviewer that she wanted to expose Cosby in her 2002 memoir, No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel. The publisher, however, got cold feet when Cosby and his lawyers threatened a lawsuit.
Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, in a letter to the Associated Press, claimed that Dickinson's allegations were "false and outlandish." According to the lawyer she contradicted her story in her memoir where she described stopping at Cosby's hotel room door after they had dinner. When she declined to enter the room he said, "After all I've done for you, this is what I get."
On November 19, 2014 a detailed and damaging article about Bill Cosby and another alleged rape victim, 41-year-old Andrea Constland, came out in the Internet publication, "Mailonline." In November 2002 the 29-year-old former Temple University basketball star met Bill Cosby. She became a regular dinner party guest at his home and considered him a mentor.
Constland, while visiting Cosby at his home in January 2004 told him she had been stressed at work. To help her relax Mr. Cosby allegedly gave her what he called a "herbal medication." Shortly after consuming the three blue pills she became dizzy and her knees began to shake. A little later she was unable to move her arms and legs. At that point Cosby gave Constand another drug. He led her to the sofa where she passed out. When she awoke her outer clothes and her underwear were in disarray.
Constand waited a year before reporting that Bill Cosby had raped her. She had returned to Canada, her native country. It was there she reported the assault.
Bruce Castor, the then district attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the site of the alleged rape, was informed by the Canadian authorities of Constand's allegations. He launched an investigation. In the "Mailonline" article the former prosecutor lamented the fact he didn't have enough evidence to file charges against Bill Cosby. "I wanted to arrest Cosby," he said, "because I thought he was probably guilty." But being able to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and thinking that a suspect is guilty are two different things."
Mr. Castor, in the "Mailonline" piece, pointed out that Constand's one-year delay in reporting the crime hurt the case. "We couldn't test for hairs, fibers, DNA and drugs that might have linked the victim to Cosby or his house."
In March 2005 Andrea Constand sued Bill Cosby for causing her "serious and deliberating injuries, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, sleeplessness, anxiety and flashbacks." The plaintiff asked for $150,000 in damages. Her attorney had rounded up thirteen other women who supported her claim that Bill Cosby was a rapist.
In 2006 Bill Cosby settled the Constand civil suit out of court. Given the damaging publicity the trial would have brought him, and the relatively small amount asked for by the plaintiff, this was not surprising. Some took this as a sign of his guilt while others simply considered it a good business decision on his part.
Shortly after the "Mailonline" article came out executives at Netflix postponed Cosby's comedy special that was scheduled to air on November 28, 2014. NBC followed suit by scrapping a Bill Cosby project that was in development. TV Land cable network stopped airing reruns of "The Bill Cosby Show."
On Friday night, November 21, 2014 Bill Cosby appeared at the Maxwell C. King Center For The Performing Arts at Eastern Florida State College in the central Florida town of Melbourne. Following his 90-minute set he received a standing ovation from an adoring audience. One of the male attendees to the show, in speaking to a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, said, "If he raped all these woman why did they not say something before?"
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Cosby earned his master's and doctorate in education in the 1970s, cut ties with the comedian on November 28, 2014. According to a university spokesperson "Bill Cosby has agreed to resign as an honorary co-chair of UMass Amherst's Capital Campaign. He no longer has any affiliation with the campaign nor does he serve in any other capacity at the university."
In November 2014 Mr. Cosby's good name and wholesome image came under public attack in connection with allegations of past behavior that violently clashed with his longstanding public persona. On November 16, 2014 64-year-old Joan Tarshis told a CNN interviewer that Cosby, in 1969 when she was nineteen, knocked her out with a drugged drink and raped her.
Tarshis said she met Bill Cosby in 1969 over lunch in Los Angeles. She accompanied him back to his bungalow on the set of "The Bill Cosby Show" to work on some comedy routines. After she drank a Bloody Mary he had mixed for her she passed out. She awoke to find him removing her underwear. In an effort to avoid being sexually assaulted she told him she had an infection that he'd pass on to his wife. Instead of raping her Mr. Cosby allegedly forced her to give him oral sex. She did not tell anyone, not even her mother, about what had happened.
Cosby later called Tarshis at her home in New York to invite her to watch him perform at The Theater at Westbury. She accepted drinks at Cosby's hotel and in his limousine before the performance. While at the theater she began to feel drugged. She asked the chauffeur to take her home. She passed out in limo. The next morning she woke up naked in a hotel bed next to Cosby.
Out of "guilt and shame," Joan Tarshis did not reveal that Cosby had sexually assaulted her for the second time. She didn't think that anyone would take her word over a man revered as America's dad.
On Saturday November 16, 2014 Scott Simon, in an interview on NPR, repeatedly asked Cosby if the rape allegations were true. Each time Cosby simply shook his head no.
The Cosby rape allegation scandal intensified the next day when a reporter with Village Voice wrote about a comedy routine on a 1969 Cosby album involving "Spanish Fly," a drug that supposedly made women beg for sex. As part of the comedy bit Bill Cosby joked that when he visited Spain he tried to acquire the drug.
Janice Dickinson, the 59-year-old former supermodel sat for an interview conducted by "Entertainment Tonight" co-host Kevin Frazier that aired on November 18, 2014. According to Dickinson, Bill Cosby had sexually assaulted her in 1982 after they had dinner in Lake Tahoe. He had invited her there to open a show for him. After dinner at his hotel he gave her a pill and a glass of red wine. She passed out. "The last thing I remember," she said, "was Bill Cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me."
Dickinson told the "Entertainment Tonight" interviewer that she wanted to expose Cosby in her 2002 memoir, No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel. The publisher, however, got cold feet when Cosby and his lawyers threatened a lawsuit.
Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, in a letter to the Associated Press, claimed that Dickinson's allegations were "false and outlandish." According to the lawyer she contradicted her story in her memoir where she described stopping at Cosby's hotel room door after they had dinner. When she declined to enter the room he said, "After all I've done for you, this is what I get."
On November 19, 2014 a detailed and damaging article about Bill Cosby and another alleged rape victim, 41-year-old Andrea Constland, came out in the Internet publication, "Mailonline." In November 2002 the 29-year-old former Temple University basketball star met Bill Cosby. She became a regular dinner party guest at his home and considered him a mentor.
Constland, while visiting Cosby at his home in January 2004 told him she had been stressed at work. To help her relax Mr. Cosby allegedly gave her what he called a "herbal medication." Shortly after consuming the three blue pills she became dizzy and her knees began to shake. A little later she was unable to move her arms and legs. At that point Cosby gave Constand another drug. He led her to the sofa where she passed out. When she awoke her outer clothes and her underwear were in disarray.
Constand waited a year before reporting that Bill Cosby had raped her. She had returned to Canada, her native country. It was there she reported the assault.
Bruce Castor, the then district attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the site of the alleged rape, was informed by the Canadian authorities of Constand's allegations. He launched an investigation. In the "Mailonline" article the former prosecutor lamented the fact he didn't have enough evidence to file charges against Bill Cosby. "I wanted to arrest Cosby," he said, "because I thought he was probably guilty." But being able to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and thinking that a suspect is guilty are two different things."
Mr. Castor, in the "Mailonline" piece, pointed out that Constand's one-year delay in reporting the crime hurt the case. "We couldn't test for hairs, fibers, DNA and drugs that might have linked the victim to Cosby or his house."
In March 2005 Andrea Constand sued Bill Cosby for causing her "serious and deliberating injuries, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, sleeplessness, anxiety and flashbacks." The plaintiff asked for $150,000 in damages. Her attorney had rounded up thirteen other women who supported her claim that Bill Cosby was a rapist.
In 2006 Bill Cosby settled the Constand civil suit out of court. Given the damaging publicity the trial would have brought him, and the relatively small amount asked for by the plaintiff, this was not surprising. Some took this as a sign of his guilt while others simply considered it a good business decision on his part.
Shortly after the "Mailonline" article came out executives at Netflix postponed Cosby's comedy special that was scheduled to air on November 28, 2014. NBC followed suit by scrapping a Bill Cosby project that was in development. TV Land cable network stopped airing reruns of "The Bill Cosby Show."
On Friday night, November 21, 2014 Bill Cosby appeared at the Maxwell C. King Center For The Performing Arts at Eastern Florida State College in the central Florida town of Melbourne. Following his 90-minute set he received a standing ovation from an adoring audience. One of the male attendees to the show, in speaking to a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, said, "If he raped all these woman why did they not say something before?"
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Cosby earned his master's and doctorate in education in the 1970s, cut ties with the comedian on November 28, 2014. According to a university spokesperson "Bill Cosby has agreed to resign as an honorary co-chair of UMass Amherst's Capital Campaign. He no longer has any affiliation with the campaign nor does he serve in any other capacity at the university."
In late 2014 the unsealed records of the Constand civil suit revealed that Cosby, in a deposition, admitted using the sedative methaqualone in connection with having sex with several young women. He also acknowledged knowing that using the drug in this way was illegal. Cosby incriminated himself this way because he was told by the district attorney this information would not be used to prosecute him.
In December 2015, the new district attorney of Montgomery County, believing that he was not bound by the former district attorney's promise to Cosby, charged him with the aggravated indecent sexual assault of Andrea Constand.
The Cosby/Constand criminal trial in June 2017 ended in a mistrial.
On September 25, 2018 following his second trial, Cosby was convicted of the 2004 aggravated sexual assault of Andrea Constland. The judge sentenced him to three to ten years in prison. Following the sentencing hearing he was led out of court in handcuffs.
On September 25, 2018 following his second trial, Cosby was convicted of the 2004 aggravated sexual assault of Andrea Constland. The judge sentenced him to three to ten years in prison. Following the sentencing hearing he was led out of court in handcuffs.
Bill Cosby would serve his time as prisoner number NN7687 in a single cell at Montgomery County's State Correction at Phoenix 20 miles from his former home.
In May 2021 the Pennsylvania Parole Board denied Cosby's request for early release on grounds he had refused to participate in the prison's sex offender programs.
On June 30, 2021 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, on a procedural issue of due process, vacated Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction. According to the state's highest court, Mr. Cosby had not received a fair trial because the second district attorney had violated the terms of the former prosecutor's agreement regarding the use of Cosby's incriminating civil trial testimony. (In effect he had been induced to incriminate himself under false pretenses.) Moreover, pursuant to the 5-4 decision, Mr. Cosby could not be retried on the same charges. The 83-year-old walked out of prison a free man.
Unsurprisingly, Cosby's release from prison was not popular with many people, including friends, relatives and supporters of the 60 women who accused him of sexual abuse.
If Ms. Tarshis had one bad experience with Mr. Cosby why even think about working with him again? This is difficult to understand. Other women some how have ended up in a room at a hotel or a room somewhere alone, and accept a drink from this. Bill Cosby or Joe Shmoe. I understand the difficulty of coming forward or not having solid evidence of what happened, but a married man regardless of the profession he is in,doesn't need to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner in a hotel room to conduct business. You can smell the trap a mile away. Some are afraid to mess up and opportunity in the entertainment field thinking this might be my big chance. Mr. Cosby has no business invited someone who is not his wife for dinner, even if he may claim it was for business in the first place. If you know he's married and this is not appropriate time to discuss business matters, don't go. If he puts pressure on, then you know it's not for business. I understand a woman should have the freedom to say no to sex under any circumstances,when incapacitated that freedom of choice is removed. And because she accepted the invitation does not give.him the right to drug you and rape you. He's doing something wrong I the first place, we need to be smarter than them (men) to not show up.
ReplyDeleteHis actions have ruined a lot of lives and caused forever pain.