ISTM that at this point it might be simpler if all women who have not been drugged and assaulted by Cosby would come forward. Maybe we should start a thread …
Apparently in this day and age, nobody will believe Ms. Johnson. Nobody will believe any of the women he drugged and raped.
Why? Because there is not High Definition 100 % in focus not blurred with perfect sound video recordings of his penis entering their vaginas. Lacking that, of course he is innocent.
:dubious:
Patton Oswald guesses that Cosby must have done this hundreds of times over a period of 30-40 years. So, you might be right.
Johnson’s claim just doesn’t make sense. How could anyone possibly imagine that they could get away with a crime like this? It would be so overwhelmingly obvious that she was drugged and raped. Cosby would have been facing 10 or more years in prison. It’s just hard for me to believe Cosby would be stupid enough to do something that could so easily be proven with medical tests. He has his faults but I don’t think anyone would say he’s completely stupid.
Fortunately nothing else happened. Cosby didn’t sexually assault her, instead he allegedly threw her out of the house.
So… you think Johnson is lying?
Like all of the other women, Johnson never reported it to the police and the statute of limitations has run out. But I believe her. She has lots of creditability and nothing to gain. The testimony against Cosby is overwhelming. I believe Cosby has done all of the things he is being accused of, which saddens me on behalf of all the woman who won’t get any justice out of this. I’ve been a Bill Cosby fan since I was a kid. He gave me much laughter in my life. It disillusions me that unknown to most of the world, he has caused so much sadness to others.
I don’t know anymore. The number of women making accusations is impossible to ignore. Some of these accounts must be true.
I feel bad that an important black role model has been disgraced. Cosby did a lot of good. Fat Albert was designed to give inner city kids role models they could relate too. The Cosby show presented a upper middle class family. Race wasn’t the focus. This was just a successful family living their life and dealing with everyday family problems. Theo never did drugs. Didn’t jack any cars. The daughter didn’t get knocked up. The show presented a very clean cut image of a black family. That was ground breaking television at that time. Bill and Camille have always supported many charities.
It’s just a damn shame.
Any disgrace caused to Bill Cosby has been brought on himself, not by his accusers.
Don’t feel bad for Cosby – he’s brought it on himself. There are plenty of other positive role models (like, most prominently, our First Family) for young black people today.
I didn’t have any doubts about any of the other allegations, but Beverly’s story really should silence all nay-sayers.
Bill Cosby still is a role model. He’s an example of how NOT to be.
Really. On this aside, the facts are the Huxtables as portrayed did NOT (paraphrase upcoming, for those who’d get pedantic about quote marks) “shed black culture”. The Huxtables had solid Afro-American cultural bona fides. They represented something that was absent from popular media representations for a generation, which was portrayal of the Black Professional Class, which existed even back in segregation times. The show is full of references to black culture and arts, cameos from black artistic icons, gives constant shout-outs to (and generated a spinoff about) Traditionally Black Universities.
However, the blackness is not the constant point of the comedy, the set-up is not that it’s black people doing this or that and wow, look at the whiteys getting all stupid at the disconnect, as in other shows. The show was not about how white people react or are made uncomfortable by upscale black people, about how an upwardly mobile black man shows up whitey, or about how nevermind that, Theo still had better keep his hands where they can be seen and not make any sudden moves around policemen.(*)
Part of Cosby’s point was built not just in showing the white audience a black family being “middle class”(**) but also about showing black audiences the worthiness of a civil, cultured lifestyle built upon education-and-work-centered family values – and that this is NOT somehow “being more white” nor that it means getting a stick up your arse about behaving in a very staid manner.
(* No idea if there WAS an episode of the Cosby Show or A Different World that included “The Talk - Black Son Version”, but I did not see one.)
(** And hey, let’s think about this: the notion that a civil, cultured lifestyle built upon education-and-work-centered family values is to “be middle class” … is that really so?)
I just scanned this thread and can’t believe people are denying Cosby is a sexual predator.
A Different World didn’t go that far, but it went pretty far. There was a very special 2-part episode about the Rodney King riots. And then there was an episode where Dwayne and Ron got into a tussle with a couple of racist white guys at a football game. The show covered a range of controversial topics. I can’t help but feel that it was a lot bolder than television today.
As a black person from a middle-class background, the Cosby Show didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know about black people. But it did make me feel like we–my family–weren’t all that anamolous and that we were just as “real” as the white families portrayed on family. I liked Good Times, but we didn’t live in the projects or have a stay-at-home mother. Nor were we the Jeffersons in the delux apartment in the sky. Up until the Cosby Show, the Evans and the Jeffersons were the only representation of black families on TV. When it aired, suddenly a whole bunch of black people felt like their realities were being accurately represented.
Everyone seems to think black people are constantly in need of role models. I say black people are no different from anyone else. They just don’t want to feel invisible.
(Once I was on a message board once and I revealed that I was a black woman. Another poster asked who I was more like: Hillary from The Fresh Prince of Belair or Claire from the Cosby Show. I could tell the question was asked in full sincerity, so I didn’t go into full monstro attack mode. But WTF?! )
ISTM that there are two separate aspects of the “Cosby role model” issue. One is his presentation in his various shows, which has been most of the focus. The other is Cosby as a person, and the message about which he’s been lecturing (which not everyone is pleased with AFAICT). To the extent that you do support his lecturing message, then it’s a loss that his ability to deliver it is completely gone. (This was largely the point of the Burress monologue which set the current brouhaha in motion.)
First of all, Patton Oswalt’s rants on Bill Cosby are irrelevant. It’s the equivalent of a punk athlete coming onto the field with his hands up or wearing a stupid T shirt. Just whoring for attention.
These accusers fall into one or more of these 3 categories:
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The obvious one is gold digging for money. I certainly believe Cosby’s claim of extortion by one of the women and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were multiple extortion attempts. When they say it’s not about the money, it IS about the money.
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Revenge. I can believe that Cosby had numerous one night stands over the years. Many men are jerks the next morning after a one nighter. Plus, I’m sure some of the women felt guilty for getting drunk and having sex. Piling on the Bill Cosby bandwagon is an easy way to take down a previously squeaky clean icon. Also, he made it, not only in Hollywood, but as a well respected figure outside of TV. I’m sure there’s jealousy from many of these women who were only able to make it with minor roles in TV movies.
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Publicity. It kinda ties in with the above two points. Going on the news with their stories of being drugged and raped gets their name out there. I’m sure some of these women wouldn’t mind some talk show appearances or paid newspaper or magazine articles. Plus, there’s always a chance that someone might revive a sagging career in Hollywood.
I don’t believe Cosby is a sexual predator. He’s not the first famous person to bed a lot of women. The Bill Cosby “Himself” comedy show is one of the funniest routines I’ve ever seen. I’ll watch it again this weekend as well as searching out more of Cosby’s comedy work. I was never much of a fan of the Cosby Show, but he’s a great comedian.
So, basically, you’re not interested in hearing from women who claim they were raped or drugged. Your mind is made up. Evidence doesn’t matter – the assertions of women with long and highly respected careers don’t matter.
It doesn’t matter what Cosby did, in your mind. He’s not a rapist, you’ve decided. Because he’s funny and you like him. End of story, for you.
Evidence matters to the police. Which is why she should have gone to them.
A drugging that didn’t wear off until morning might have shown up in a blood test. Or maybe the cab driver could give a statement about her being shoved into his cab against her will.
Nope, has nothing to do with his comedic skills. I’m highly suspicious of 30 year old claims of sexual impropriety against a multi millionaire celebrity, especially with so many holes as these stories have. The “roofied and raped” schtick was popularized in the late 90s or so and most of the time , no drugs are found, just alcohol. The evil male, who slips a drug into a woman’s drink to take advantage of her, might make a good character in a Lifetime movie. However, those movies are fictional.
So what? This thread isn’t about prosecuting Cosby, it’s about listening to women tell their stories about their experiences with Cosby. I find their stories credible – it doesn’t mean I’m ready to lock him up without a trial.
I think Cosby’s a rapist. I believe that some, most, or all of these stories about him are true – most of these women have nothing to gain, and many are already rich and successful. I don’t believe that a bunch of women in their 50s and 60s got together and conspired to ruin Cosby’s reputation.
The most likely explanation for all these stories is that Cosby drugged and raped a series of women. There’s a possibility that they’re all lying, but so far I’ve seen no reason whatsoever to believe that they are.
Many of these accusations are from millionaire celebrities with thriving careers.
And are you seriously saying no woman has ever been drugged and raped?