# A lot of women are coming forward with rape accusations against Bill Cosby.. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 19, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093 "2014-11-19T17:48:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/281 "2015-12-23T21:27:49Z")
> [@andros](#): > > You are an astoundingly special snowflake, **Jack**. Thank you, andros. It takes a special snowflake these days, to fight ignorance rather than promote it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/282 "2015-12-23T22:05:18Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > If I am not mistaken, he doesn’t have to. All he has to show is that they said it to 3rd party in some way. He _might_ have to show that it cost him something. That’s defamation. Then the women would have to show that their statements are true. That’s not how defamation law works in the United States. Particularly because Cosby is a public figure, the burden is on him to prove that the accusers have: 1. Made a statement of fact 2. To a third party 3. That is not true 4. That tends to harm his reputation 5. That was made with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth (with negligence if he had not been a public figure) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/283 "2015-12-23T23:08:42Z")
Somebody should introduce Jack to Dale. I bet they get along famously. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/284 "2015-12-23T23:20:51Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > If the lawyers are sufficiently confident that they can win on those seven cases, let’s suppose that those seven women _are_ drug-whore starfuckers who sniff a payout. No, that’s not misogyny, not all women are drug-whore starfuckers - but not all of them are saintly virgins either. Whores exist, in many forms, and plenty of people of any gender want to fuck stars (and/or get in on a potentially lucrative payout). To suppose that there might be seven such women in the world (or, indeed, in Hollywood) is hardly a slur on women generally. It may be a slur on Hollywood - let’s see the entertainment industry sue for defamation 😉 > > That, of course, doesn’t mean that the other women are DWSFs. But 40 isn’t such an unlikely number. By my back of an envelope calculation, it’s 0.000025 of the female population of the US. By contrast, about 1% of the population are schizophrenic, so that’s about 0.5% (over one and a half million) of the female population - and that’s not misogyny either, is it? I bet I could find forty female schizophrenics who think Bill Crosby is a lizard alien who is stalking them and controlling their thoughts. Who wants to bang him up for that too? Considering how many of the accusers are successful professionals, and considering that Cosby has [admitted in court to providing pills to young women](http://time.com/3951761/bill-cosby-quaaludes-admission-oath/) he wanted to have sex with, it seems far more likely that some of these accusations are accurate then that all of them are false. Without any evidence that any of the accusers are lying, I’m certainly not ready to say that they are lying, much less hurl misogynistic insults at them. By the way – the way you use “whore” and “virgin” is strange to me. Do you believe that chastity/virginity is more moral and admirable then promiscuity? Do you believe women who choose to be promiscuous deserve to be insulted? ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/285 "2015-12-25T03:24:42Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > If the lawyers are sufficiently confident that they can win on those seven cases, let’s suppose that those seven women _are_ drug-whore starfuckers who sniff a payout. Let’s not. > [@](#): > > No, that’s not misogyny, Oh, thank god. For a moment there I thought . . . > [@](#): > > not all women are drug-whore starfuckers - . . . Erm. No. No they aren’t. > [@](#): > > but not all of them are saintly virgins either. Well, clearly not. (The survival of our species is kind of dependent on that.) But I’m not sure it has to be a dichotomy. > [@](#): > > Whores exist, in many forms, and plenty of people of any gender want to fuck stars (and/or get in on a potentially lucrative payout). To suppose that there might be seven such women in the world (or, indeed, in Hollywood) is hardly a slur on women generally. It may be a slur on Hollywood - let’s see the entertainment industry sue for defamation 😉 Please don’t wink at me. It’s skeeving me out. Also, I don’t think you have the slightest notion of what may or may not be a slur on women. > [@](#): > > That, of course, doesn’t mean that the other women are DWSFs. But 40 isn’t such an unlikely number. By my back of an envelope calculation, it’s 0.000025 of the female population of the US. Oh god no. You’re making math skeevy now! > [@](#): > > By contrast, about 1% of the population are schizophrenic, so that’s about 0.5% (over one and a half million) of the female population Really!? Now you’re going to insult schizophrenic people, too? > [@](#): > > - and that’s not misogyny either, is it? I bet I could find forty female schizophrenics who think Bill Crosby is a lizard alien who is stalking them and controlling their thoughts. Who wants to bang him up for that too? Holy fuck! I don’t believe you have a fucking clue what misogyny is. For god’s sake, take a moment to check yourself. And until then, _shut . . . the fuck . . . up!_ ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/286 "2015-12-25T09:19:09Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I think this is the point Mr. Douchebag is missing. Only suing 7 of 30+ is like admitting the others are telling the truth. It’s really not. He is only suing the 7 women who sued him, for defamation. It’s a counter-suit. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/287 "2015-12-25T16:15:24Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > It’s really not. He is only suing the 7 women who sued him, for defamation. It’s a counter-suit. And yet that _appears_, to laypeople who do not grok the nuances of defamation suits, as though those are the only accusers he has a chance of opposing, and them only on a “technicality.” To the casual couchsitter, it very much _does_ look like he doesn’t have any ammo against the other accusers. At this point. Again, no shit, but this is not just about legalities, this is about the court of public perception, and about damage control for the Coz’ public image. It’s a desperate rearguard action, and they’re willing to accept that perception in exchange for the possible gains a possibly legal victory might provide. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/288 "2015-12-27T10:33:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Considering how many of the accusers are successful professionals, and considering that Cosby has [admitted in court to providing pills to young women](http://time.com/3951761/bill-cosby-quaaludes-admission-oath/) he wanted to have sex with, it seems far more likely that some of these accusations are accurate then that all of them are false. I don’t hold with your contention that ‘succesful professionals’ are strangers to deceit of any kind, let alone self-deception, nor do I accept that Cosby paying drug-whores with drugs make him a rapist. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Without any evidence that any of the accusers are lying, I’m certainly not ready to say that they are lying, much less hurl misogynistic insults at them. So that makes two of us not hurling misogynistic insults. I wonder why you brought them up? > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > By the way – the way you use “whore” and “virgin” is strange to me. Do you believe that chastity/virginity is more moral and admirable then promiscuity? Do you believe women who choose to be promiscuous deserve to be insulted? Nope, neither. Nor am I a Freudian, but it was Freud who posited a ‘virgin-whore complex’, which was (perhaps still is) referenced a lot in the feminism I grew up with. It’s about as meaningful as if I’d referenced ‘out of the strong, something sweet’ - not being a bible-basher either, you see, just stuffed full of all manner of cultural references that slip out from time to time. You know it’s the Pit, you can just insult me because you hate me, you don’t have to force an improbable rationale for it? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_of\_Words](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@Jack\_of\_Words](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_of_Words)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/289 "2015-12-27T10:44:06Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Let’s not. Why ever not? > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Oh, thank god. For a moment there I thought . . . You were wrong. > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > . . . Erm. No. No they aren’t. But some of them are - as are some men. > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Well, clearly not. (The survival of our species is kind of dependent on that.) > But I’m not sure it has to be a dichotomy. It’s not a monochote either which was rather my point. > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Please don’t wink at me. It’s skeeving me out. Man up 😉 > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Also, I don’t think you have the slightest notion of what may or may not be a slur on women. Well I think I do, and since you’ve expanded on your implication, I’m sticking with my thought and you’re welcome to yours (though I am fairly sure that describing some women is not a slur on women), > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Oh god no. > You’re making math skeevy now! Uhuh. Maths, and facts, and whatnot, are far too pure to get involved in a discussion of a man’s guilt or innocence. > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Really!? Now you’re going to insult schizophrenic people, too? You see an insult in a statistic? Quite literally, ‘some of my best friends are’ schizophrenic - deeply talented visual artists, all three of them, though conversations with them can take interesting turns… > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Holy fuck! > I don’t believe you have a fucking clue what misogyny is. I’m certainly not sure what definition you’re using. > [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > For god’s sake, take a moment to check yourself. > And until then, _shut . . . the fuck . . . up!_ Leaving ‘god’ out of it, I shan’t be shutting up either way. I checked myself, by the way - confirming that I’m not you and don’t want to be. You should probably look into some solution - temporary if necessary, but with an eye to finality - for the problem of people who aren’t like you. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/290 "2015-12-27T14:15:05Z")
Smarmy prick. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/291 "2015-12-27T15:18:35Z")
You’ve seen Bill Cosbys prick? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/292 "2015-12-27T15:32:49Z")
> [@Jack\_of\_Words](#): > > So that makes two of us not hurling misogynistic insults. Yes you did, liar. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/293 "2015-12-27T15:46:21Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > You’ve seen Bill Cosbys prick? Well, I’ve seen the foreskin that covers his knob. It posts here under the name “ **Jack of Words** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/294 "2015-12-28T17:00:35Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Well, I’ve seen the foreskin that covers his knob. You are one lucky lady. Were you also desirious of fisticuffs after seeing his Glorious Knob? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/295 "2015-12-30T16:01:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Bill Cosby was charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a woman at his home 12 years ago – the first criminal charges brought against the comedian out of the torrent of allegations that destroyed his good-guy image as America’s Dad. > > The case sets the stage for perhaps the biggest Hollywood celebrity trial of the mobile-all-the-time era and could send the 78-year-old Cosby to prison in the twilight of his life and barrier-breaking career. > > In bringing the case, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman overruled her predecessor, who declined to charge Cosby in 2005 when Temple University employee Andrea Constand first told police that the comic drugged her and violated her by putting his hands down her pants at his mansion in suburban Philadelphia. > **[Bill Cosby – for the first time – faces criminal charges in an assault case](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/1230/Bill-Cosby-for-the-first-time-faces-criminal-charges-in-an-assault-case)** > > Temple University employee Andrea Constand first told police in 2005 that the comic drugged her and violated her at his mansion in suburban Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/296 "2015-12-30T16:45:51Z")
Finally. But I wonder if there is any evidence beyond she said he said. Also the lawsuit was settled so what new evidence do they have to recharge him? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/297 "2015-12-30T16:49:37Z")
The outcome of the lawsuit is irrelevant to the criminal case. But apparently the allegations made in the suit are more serious than her original police report. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/298 "2015-12-30T16:57:25Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > You are one lucky lady. Were you also desirious of fisticuffs after seeing his Glorious Knob? Glorious Knob sounds like some state park in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/299 "2015-12-30T17:07:32Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Finally. But I wonder if there is any evidence beyond she said he said. Also the lawsuit was settled so what new evidence do they have to recharge him? They now have his deposition. In it he admits to getting drugs to give to women in order to have sex. He admits to one case of giving that drug to a woman and then having sex with her. That woman said she was not capable of consenting. When asked about that, Cosby said he didn’t know if that was true. And when asked if he gave these drugs to the women without their knowledge (the very heart of the case), Cosby’s lawyer objected and the question was not answered. They also have a lot more other victims. And from the news stories I’ve read, Pennsylvania allows testimony that establishes a pattern even when there was no crime charged in the other cases. (Of course, Cosby’s lawyers will be trying very hard to get the pattern testimony excluded.) If their testimony is allowed, this won’t be a he said-she said. It will be a he said-she said-she said-she said-she said, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093/300 "2015-12-30T18:16:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The outcome of the lawsuit is irrelevant to the criminal case. But apparently the allegations made in the suit are more serious than her original police report. Ah, thank you. I missed the part where the first case was a civil one. > [@billfish678](#): > > Glorious Knob sounds like some state park in Utah. I’d camp there. > [@lalaith](#): > > They also have a lot more other victims. And from the news stories I’ve read, Pennsylvania allows testimony that establishes a pattern even when there was no crime charged in the other cases. (Of course, Cosby’s lawyers will be trying very hard to get the pattern testimony excluded.) If their testimony is allowed, this won’t be a he said-she said. It will be a he said-she said-she said-she said-she said, etc. If the other women testify this will most likely be his undoing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-women-are-coming-forward-with-rape-accusations-against-bill-cosby/705093.md?page=16)