William Henry Cosby Jr. (/ˈkɒzbi/KOZ-bee; born July 12, 1937) is an American former comedian, actor, and media personality. Often deemed a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry,[2][3][4] Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy star, with his longest-running live-action role being that ofCliff Huxtable in the sitcomThe Cosby Show (1984–1992). He also released several stand-up comedy albums and wasa popular spokesperson in advertising for decades. Cosby was well known in the United States for his fatherly image and gained a reputation as "America's Dad". Starting in 2014, however, dozens ofallegations of sexual assault were made against him. These ended his career and sharply diminished his status as a pop culture icon.
William Henry Cosby Jr. was born on July 12, 1937,[10] in Philadelphia.[11] He is one of four sons of Anna Pearl (née Hite), a maid, and William Henry Cosby Sr., who served as amess steward in theU.S. Navy.[11][12]
Cosby as a basketball player during his Navy service in 1957
Cosby earned his high school equivalency diploma (HSED) through correspondence courses[19] and was awarded a track-and-field scholarship toTemple University in 1961.[20] At Temple, he studied physical education while he ran track and playedfullback on the college's football team.[21] Cosby began bartending at a Philadelphia club, where he earned bigger tips by making the customers laugh. He then began performing on stage and left his university studies to pursue a career in comedy.[22]
Cosby resumed his formal education in 1971. Temple University granted him hisbachelor's degree on the basis of what it referred to as life experience.[23] He then began graduate work atUMass Amherst, receiving his Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1972.
He returned to UMass Amherst, and in 1976, while producingFat Albert and the Cosby Kids, he earned hisDoctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree. Hisdissertation was titledAn Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning.[24][25]
Cosby lined up stand-up jobs at clubs in Philadelphia and then in New York City, where he appeared atThe Gaslight Cafe beginning in 1961.[24] He booked dates in cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. On July 28, 1964, he received national exposure onNBC'sThe Tonight Show. This led to a recording contract withWarner Bros. Records which, in 1964, released his debut LP,Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!, the first of a series of comedy albums.[28] His albumTo Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With was number one onSpin magazine's list of "The 40 Greatest Comedy Albums of All Time", calling it "stand-up comedy's masterpiece".[29]
Cosby performing in 2011.
Cosby's comedy genres includedobservational comedy, satire,surreal humor anddeadpan. While many comics of the time were using the growing freedom of that decade to explore controversial and sometimes risqué material, Cosby was making his reputation with humorous recollections of his childhood. Many Americans wondered about the absence of race as a topic in Cosby's stories. As Cosby's success grew, he had to defend his choice of material regularly; as he argued, "A white person listens to my act and he laughs and he thinks, 'Yeah, that's the way I see it too.' Okay. He's white. I'm Negro. And we both see things the same way. That must mean thatwe are alike. Right? So I figure this way I'm doing as much for goodrace relations as the next guy."[30]
In 1983, Cosby released the live comedy performance filmBill Cosby: Himself, in which he gave his views ranging from marriage to parenthood. The film also showcased Cosby's conversational style of stand-up comedy; for most of the performance, Cosby was seated center-stage, only getting up to emphasize a joke. Nearly all of Cosby's routine in the film concerned the trials and tribulations of parenting, frequently illustrated with anecdotes involving his own family. Many of the comedic routines presented in the film were precursors to Cosby's most popular sitcom,The Cosby Show. The film was well regarded by comedians and critics, with some calling it "the greatest stand up concert movie ever."[31]Rolling Stone placed Cosby's concert filmBill Cosby: Himself as number8 on its list of "The 25 Best Stand-Up Specials of All Time", acknowledging the significance of the film while still saying: "Yes, it's damned near impossible to watch anything the tainted comedian has done and not think of the headlines, the heckling, the revelations and what is, by any definition, monstrous behavior."[32] They also placed Cosby at number8 on their list of "The Best Stand-up Comics of All Time", saying: "Bill Cosby is not likely to perform again; listening to his records will never have that gentle, sweet sense of nostalgia for anyone; and while it is impossible to disconnect the performer from the man, scrubbing his name from the annals of stand-up would be impossible."[33]
Cosby performed his first TV stand-up special in 30 years,Bill Cosby: Far from Finished, onComedy Central on November 23, 2013.[34] His last show of the "Far from Finished" tour was performed at theCobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta on May 2, 2015.[35] In 2014, Cosby was set to release his new standup specialBill Cosby 77 onNetflix.[36] The release of the film was canceled due toallegations of sexual assault against Cosby.[37] His last known standup performance prior to his conviction was held at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia on January 23, 2018.[38]
Television and film
Cosby in 1965
In 1965, Cosby was cast alongsideRobert Culp in theI Spy espionage adventure series onNBC.I Spy became the first weekly dramatic television series to feature an African American in a starring role.[39] At first, Cosby and NBC executives were concerned that some affiliates might be unwilling to carry the series. At the beginning of the 1965 season, four stations declined the show; they were in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.[40] Viewers were taken with the show's exotic locales and the authentic chemistry between the stars. It became one of the ratings hits of the season.I Spy finished among the twenty most-watched shows that year, and Cosby was honored with three consecutiveEmmy Awards forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.[41] When accepting his third Emmy for the show, Cosby told the audience: "Let the message be known to bigots and racists that they don't count!"[41]
During the series' run, Cosby continued to do stand-up comedy performances and recorded half a dozen record albums for Warner Bros. Records. He also began to dabble in singing, recordingSilver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings in 1967.[42] In June 1968,Billboard magazine reported that Cosby had turned down a five-year, $3.5million contract renewal offer and would leave the label in August that year to record for his own record label.[43]
Cosby in 1966
In July 1968, Cosby narratedBlack History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed, aCBS documentary addressing the representation of black people in popular culture.[44]Andy Rooney wrote the Emmy-awarded script[45] for Cosby to read.[46]Georgetown University professorMichael Eric Dyson said it was one of "the rare exceptions when Cosby took off the gloves and blinders, to discuss race in public with candor and discernment".[47] Due to its popularity and controversial nature, it was rebroadcast less than a month later.[48]
Tetragrammaton Records, a division of the Campbell, Silver, Cosby (CSC) Corporation—the Los Angeles–based production company founded by Cosby, his manager Roy Silver, and filmmaker Bruce Post Campbell—produced films as well as records, including Cosby's television specials, theFat Albert cartoon special and series, and several motion pictures. CSC hired Artie Mogull as President of the label. Tetragrammaton was fairly active during 1968–69 but ceased trading during the 1970s.[49]
Throughout the 1960s Cosby pursued a variety of additional television projects and appeared as a regular guest host onThe Tonight Show and as the star of an annual special for NBC. In 1969, he returned with another series,The Bill Cosby Show, a situation comedy that ran for two seasons. Cosby played a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school. While only a modest critical success, the show was a hit with ratings, finishing eleventh in its first season. Cosby was lauded for using African American performers such asLillian Randolph,Moms Mabley, andRex Ingram as characters. According to commentary on the Season1 DVDs for the show, Cosby was at odds with NBC over his refusal to include alaugh track in the show, as he felt viewers had the ability to find humor for themselves when watching a TV show.[citation needed]
For thePBS seriesThe Electric Company, Cosby recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.[50] Cosby resumed his formal education in 1971; he began graduate work atUMass Amherst. In 1972, he was back in prime time with a variety series,The New Bill Cosby Show. However, this show lasted only a season. More successful was aSaturday-morning cartoon,Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood. That series ran from 1972 to 1979, then ran asThe New Fat Albert Show in 1979, and finally ran asThe Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Cosby would use his experience producingFat Albert in his educational endeavors; hisdissertation for hisEd. D. at UMass Amherst discussed the use ofFat Albert and the Cosby Kids as a teaching tool in elementary schools.
Cosby also hostedCos in 1976. In addition, he produced an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers. It was during this season that ABC decided to take advantage of this phase of Cosby's career, by joining withFilmation producers ofFat Albert to create live-action segments starring Cosby, for the 1972 animated filmJourney Back to Oz; it subsequently aired in syndication. Cosby was also a regular on children'spublic television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.[51]
Cosby's greatest television success came in September 1984 with the debut ofThe Cosby Show. Cosby, an advocate for family-oriented humor, co-produced the series, held creative control and involved himself in every aspect of production. Plots were often based on ideas that Cosby suggested while in meetings with the writing staff.[52] The show had parallels to Cosby's actual family life: like the charactersCliff andClair Huxtable, Cosby and his wifeCamille were college-educated and financially successful, and they had five children. On the show, Cosby played the role of anobstetrician. Much of the material from the pilot and first season ofThe Cosby Show was taken from his videoBill Cosby: Himself,[citation needed] released in 1983. The series was an immediate success, debuting near the top of the ratings and having five consecutive No. 1 ratings in its eight-season run.[53][54]
In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to film with the spy spoofLeonard Part 6. Although Cosby himself was the producer and wrote the story, he realized during production that the film was not going to be what he wanted and publicly denounced it, warning audiences to stay away.[55] The film was however marked the first project for Columbia to be greenlighted by studio executive David Puttman.[56] Later in the 1980s, Cosby served as an advisor to theLos Angeles Student Film Institute.[57][58]
Also in 1996, he started up a new show for CBS,Cosby, again co-starringPhylicia Rashād, his onscreen wife onThe Cosby Show. Cosby co-produced the show forCarsey-Werner Productions. It centered on Cosby as Hilton Lucas, an iconoclasticsenior citizen who tries to find a new job after beingdownsized and, in the meantime, gets on his wife's nerves.Madeline Kahn co-starred as Rashād's goofy business partner Pauline. Cosby was hired by CBS to be the official spokesman of its Detroit affiliateWWJ-TV during an advertising campaign from 1995 to 1998. Cosby also hosted a CBS special,Kids Say the Darndest Things, on February 6, 1995, which was followed after as a full-season show, with Cosby as host, from January 9, 1998, to June 23, 2000.[59] After four seasons,Cosby was canceled. Its last episode aired April 28, 2000.Kids Say the Darndest Things was terminated the same year.
A series forpreschoolers,Little Bill, created by Cosby as a semi-biographical representation of his childhood growing up in Philadelphia, made its debut onNickelodeon in 1999. The network renewed the popular program in November 2000. In 2001, Cosby's agenda included the publication of a new book, as well as delivering thecommencement addresses atMorris Brown College,[60]Ohio State University,[61] and atRensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[62] Also that year, he signed a deal with20th Century Fox to develop a live-action feature film centering on the popular Fat Albert character from his 1970s cartoon series. Co-written and executive produced by Cosby,Fat Albert was released in theaters in December 2004. Cosby makes an appearance in the film as himself.
Cosby was one of the first black people to appear in the United States as an advertising spokesperson. He was known for his appeal to white consumers in the second half of the 20th century, in an industry seen as slow to accept diversity.[65] In spite of making contradictory soft drink pitches and endorsing a disgraced financial company, he continued to be considered effective and believable. In the 1980s, studies found Cosby the "most familiar" and "most persuasive" spokesperson, to the point where Cosby attributed his wealth to these contracts primarily, over his television series.
Cosby's first advertisement was for White Owl cigars. His agent approached them in 1965, before the debut ofI Spy, but after several appearances on the late-night talk programThe Tonight Show, a signifier of success in American comedy. He told agent Norman Brokaw ofWilliam Morris Agency that he liked their tagline, "We're going to get you."[66] Cosby later said there were no commercials "with a black person holding something, buying a product, so the absence of pictures, in retrospect, said a lot". Despite the stigma among advertisers around using a black spokesperson, sales of the product rose.[67] According to an entry inAd Age Encyclopedia, the public acceptance of Cosby and Robert Culp appearing as equals onI Spy made it possible for advertisers to show black people and white people together in their commercials.[68]
First of all and lastly, I'm good—that's all—I'm good. I don't rewrite their material. I take it and Imake it.
Cosby attributing his success in the field, 1984[69]
In 1974, Cosby began promoting Jell-O pudding forGeneral Foods.[70] Cosby said comedianJack Benny, whose program the brand sponsored, was the only previous spokesman for Jell-O,[71] butKate Smith,Lucille Ball, andAndy Griffith have also pitched the brand.[72] In previous campaigns since the brand's launch in 1902, it was targeted towards parents rather than to children, a practice from which the company departed in 2001.[73] Cosby's early commercials were created at theYoung & Rubicam advertising agency by Curvin O'Reilly. Cosby's Jell-O Pudding commercials were not permitted to be used in child directed television because celebrity endorsements were prohibited in advertising to children. Sales immediately responded to the Cosby advertising with growth after what had been a long decline. In 1979, General Foods introducedPudding Pops, the company's first frozen dessert product. With Cosby as spokesperson, it sold US$100 million its first year. After introducing Gelatin Pops and frozen Fruit Bars, the company's frozen desserts sales reached $300 million.[74] Cosby was engaged to promote the flagging Jell-O gelatin product line in the mid-1980s, when General Foods introduced a holdable Jell-O product called "Jigglers".[75] Sales increased seven percent during the first year of the promotion.[70]
Cosby appeared in commercials for Coca-Cola's 1979 campaign, "Have a Coke and a Smile," and made a guest appearance at the Great Get-Together, a major bottlers' convention held that year.[76][77] This campaign continued into 1981. Cosby returned as Coca-Cola's spokesperson in its 1982 "Coke Is It" campaign,[76] a series of commercials mocking thePepsi Challenge.[76] Cosby continued to be a Jell-O spokesman through the 1990s. He was present for the lighting of the brand's first billboard in New York'sTimes Square in 1998.[78] In 1999, Cosby's 25th year as spokesman for Jell-O, was also the final year he appeared in its advertising. The company distributed 120,000 copies of his picture book series,Little Bill, into American public libraries.[79] Despite the transitions of advertising agencies[note 1] and despite the 1989 merger of General Foods intoKraft, the then-newly merged company Kraft General Foods let Cosby remain with Jell-O as their spokesperson.[81] He appeared at theUtah State Senate in 2001 to designate Jell-Othe official state snack,[82][83] and made a promotional visit to theJell-O Gallery in 2004.[72] In 2010, Cosby returned to Jell-O as executive producer for the company's "Hello Jell-O" campaign. In return, the brand sponsored his weekly web showOBKB, a children's interview series similar toKids Say the Darndest Things.[84] As of 2002, Cosby's time with Jell-O was considered the longest-standing celebrity endorsement in American advertising history.[85]
Cosby has not appeared in advertising roles since the widespread publicization of his sexual assault allegations in 2014.
The earliest allegation against Cosby dates back to December 1965: in 2005, Kristina Ruehli came forward asJane Doe #12 in theAndrea Constand case and alleged that Cosby had drugged and assaulted her at that time in his Beverly Hills home. Further, Ruehli said she had told her boyfriend about the incident, and had told her daughter in the 1980s.[86]
In the early 1980s, Joan Tarshis told freelance reporter John Milward about an alleged sexual assault by Cosby. Milward did not write about the allegations.[87] In 1996,PlayboyPlaymateVictoria Valentino gave a videotaped interview in which she made sexual assault allegations against Cosby. The interview was conducted for an exposé on the lives ofPlayboy models, which was never published.[87]
After the allegations resurfaced in 2014,Wendy Williams recalled that duringher radio show in 1990, she referred to sexual assault allegations against Cosby that had been published in theNational Enquirer tabloid. Williams said Cosby called her boss in the middle of the broadcast demanding that Williams be fired.[88][89][90]
Later allegations and investigations (2000–2006)
On February 1, 2000, according to a statement provided by Detective Jose McCallion of theNew York CountyDistrict Attorney'sSpecial Victims Bureau, Lachele Covington, who was 20 years old at the time, filed a criminal complaint against Cosby alleging that on January 28, 2000, at his Manhattan townhouse, he had tried to put her hands down his pants and thenexposed himself. Covington also alleged that Cosby grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hands down her pants. Cosby was questioned and insisted "it was not true". TheNew York City Police Department (NYPD) referred her complaint to the D.A., but they declined to prosecute.[91]
In January 2004, Andrea Constand, a formerTemple University employee, accused Cosby of drugging and fondling her; however, in February 2005,Montgomery County, Pennsylvania's District Attorney said there would be no charges due to insufficient credible and admissible evidence.[92] Constand then filed acivil claim in March 2005, with thirteen women as potential witnesses if the case went to court.[93][94] Cosbysettled out of court for an undisclosed amount in November 2006.[93] After learning that charges were not pursued in the Constand case, California lawyer Tamara Lucier Green, the only publicly named woman in the prior case, came forward with allegations in February 2005 that Cosby had drugged and assaulted her in the 1970s.[95][96][97] Cosby's lawyer said Cosby did not know her and that the events did not happen.[98]
In a July 2005Philadelphia Daily News interview, Beth Ferrier, one of the anonymous "Jane Doe" witnesses in the Constand case, alleged that in 1984 Cosby had drugged her coffee and she awoke with her clothes partially removed.[99] In 2005, Shawn Upshaw Brown, a woman with whom Cosby admitted to having an extramarital affair in the 1970s, claimed in theNational Enquirer that Cosby drugged and raped her the last time the two were together sexually. Brown is the mother ofAutumn Jackson, who claims to be Cosby's illegitimate daughter. Jackson was convicted in 1997 ofextortion after she threatened to make the claims public in theGlobe tabloid. In 2015, Brown went into more detail with her renewed allegations in an interview.[100]
On June 9, 2006,Philadelphia magazine published an article by Robert Huber, titled "Dr. Huxtable & Mr. Hyde",[101] which gave graphic detail about Constand's allegations, and the similar stories told by Green and Ferrer about how they stated that they too were drugged and sexually assaulted. With these severe allegations against Cosby, Huber wrote: "His lawyers have gotten it pushed to the back burner, down to a simmer, and maybe it will amount to nothing, yet there is also the possibility that it will bubble up to destroy him."[102] The article also presented Barbara Bowman, who had come forward after having read about Constand's story, saying she could not sit in silence any longer. Details of Bowman's similar drug and sexual assault allegations were published in the magazine's November 1, 2006, issue. Bowman reported two incidents that happened around early 1986, wherein she was eighteen years old and working as an aspiring model and actress after her agent had introduced her to Cosby and he had become her good friend and mentor, saying that she escaped his attacks, returned home to Denver and Cosby thereafter subverted her career.[103]
Hannibal Buress remarks (October 2014)
In a 2014 stand-up act,Hannibal Buress (pictured) publicly accused Cosby of rape
On October 16, 2014, as part of a comedy routine in Philadelphia,Hannibal Buress addressed Cosby's legacy of "talk[ing] down" to young black men about their mode of dress and lifestyle. Buress criticized the actor's public moralizing by saying: "Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby, so that kind of brings you down a couple notches."
The audience appeared to respond to Buress's accusation as an incredulous joke, then he encouraged everyone to search "Bill Cosby rape" on Google when they got home. Buress had been using the same Cosby routine for the previous six months with little response,[104] but word of the October performance spread rapidly after being posted onPhiladelphia magazine's website.[105][106][107] Media coverage intensified, with numerous publications tackling the question of how Cosby had managed to maintain, as Buress called it in his routine, a "teflon image" despite more than a decade of public sexual abuse accusations.[108][109]
Shortly afterward,USA Today reported that either Cosby or his representative posted a request for Twitter followers to "Go ahead.Meme me!" The tweet was deleted after a large number of the submitted memes made reference to the accusations against Cosby.[110]
Additional assault allegations
After Buress's remarks came to the attention of journalist Joan Tarshis, in November 2014,[111] modelJanice Dickinson,[112] actressLouisa Moritz,[113] actorLou Ferrigno's wife Carla,[113] Florida nurse Therese Serignese,[114]Playboy Playmates Valentino[115] and Sarita Butterfield,[116] actressMichelle Hurd,[117] and eleven other women[117] also made accusations of alleged assaults by Cosby committed against them between 1965 and 2004.[118]Charlotte Laws wrote a November 2014 article published bySalon accusing Cosby of assaulting a friend of hers, with whom she subsequently had lost contact.[119] The following month, in aVanity Fair article, modelBeverly Johnson alleged that she was drugged by Cosby during a 1986audition, and that she knew other women with similar accounts.[120]
Cosby's attorney said Dickinson's account differed from prior accounts she had given of the incident and released a statement that said in part: "Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment."[121] A follow-up statement dismissed the allegations as "unsubstantiated" and an example of "media vilification".[122] A joint statement from Cosby and Constand, who had received a civil settlement in 2006, clarified the statement released a few days prior by stating that it did not refer to Constand's case, which was resolved years ago.[123]
In January 2015, Cindra Ladd alleged that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1969.[124] In May 2015, Lili Bernard claimed that Cosby sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, and that she had been interviewed by police inAtlantic City, New Jersey, regarding the allegation. Because the state of New Jersey has nostatute of limitations for rape, Bernard hoped charges would be brought, but media reports noted that "it wasn't clear...if what [Bernard] says happened to her happened in New Jersey."[125]
On July 27, 2015,New York magazine's cover featured images of 35 women sitting in chairs with the last chair empty, suggesting there may be more victims who have not come forward yet. The 35 women told "their stories about being assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the culture that wouldn't listen". Eleven other women known toNew York who alleged sexual assault by Cosby declined to be photographed and interviewed for the feature.[126] According toVox, the stories span "more than five decades" and are "remarkably similar, typically involving the comedian offering a woman a cup of coffee or some sort of alcoholic beverage—which may be spiked with drugs—and allegedly sexually assaulting the victim as she's impaired or unconscious."[127]
On September 17, 2015,A&E broadcast the documentaryCosby: The Women Speak, a program in which thirteen alleged victims were interviewed.[128][129] By October 24, nearly sixty women had claimed they were sexually abused by Cosby,[130] and the terms "sociopath"[117] and "serial rapist"[131][111][132] were used to describe him. Jewell Allison, one of Cosby's accusers, described him as a "sociopath"[117] and stated: "We may be looking at America's greatest serial rapist that ever got away with this for the longest amount of time. He got away with it because he was hiding behind the image of Cliff Huxtable."[131]
Cosby has repeatedly denied the allegations and maintained his innocence. In November 2014, he responded to a question about the allegations and said: "I don't talk about it."[133] In past interviews that were made public, Cosby declined to discuss the accusations.[134] However, he toldFlorida Today: "People shouldn't have to go through that and shouldn't answer to innuendos."[134] In May 2015, he said: "I have been in this business 52 years and I've never seen anything like this. Reality is a situation and I can't speak."[135]
In the wake of the allegations, numerous organizations have severed ties with Cosby, and honors and titles that were previously awarded to him have been revoked. Reruns ofThe Cosby Show and other shows featuring Cosby have also been pulled from syndication by many organizations. Twenty-five colleges and universities have rescinded honorary degrees.[136]
In July 2015, PAVE: Promoting Awareness and Victim Empowerment, a nonprofit group focusing on sexual assault prevention, launched aWhiteHouse.gov petition, calling upon PresidentBarack Obama to revoke Cosby'sPresidential Medal of Freedom (which Cosby received from PresidentGeorge W. Bush in July 2002).[137] Later the same month, in response to a question at a news conference, President Obama said:
There's no precedent for revoking a medal. We don't have that mechanism. And, as you know, I tend to make it a policy not to comment on the specifics of cases where there might still be, if not criminal, then civil, issues involved.[long pause] I'll say this, if you give a woman, or a man for that matter, without his or her knowledge, a drug, and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape. And I think this country, any civilized country, should have no tolerance for rape.[138]
Trial, conviction, and conviction overturn
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. William H. Cosby, Jr.
With the exception of Andrea Constand's allegations, most of the sexual assault allegations against Cosby have fallen outside of thestatutes of limitations forcriminal prosecution.[139][140] Numerouscivil lawsuits have been brought against him.[139][141] AttorneyGloria Allred has represented 33 of Cosby's alleged victims. In July 2015, some of the court records fromAndrea Constand's 2005 civil suit against Cosby were unsealed and released to the public. The full transcript of his deposition was also released to the media by a court reporting service. In his testimony, Cosby admitted tocasual sex with a series of young women involving the recreational use of thesedativemethaqualone (Quaalude); he further acknowledged that his dispensation of the prescription drug was illegal.[142][143][144]
On April 26, 2018, following a jury trial, Cosby was found guilty of three counts ofaggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand. An initial trial on the charges had ended in a mistrial when the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.[145][146][147] On September 25, 2018, he was sentenced to three to ten years in state prison and a $25,000 fine, together with court costs of both trials.[148][149][150] After a brief period in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, Cosby was moved to a state prison,SCI Phoenix inSkippack Township, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2018, where he was confined to a single cell.[151][152] On January 28, 2019, Cosby was moved from administrative segregation into the general population.[153] On December 10, 2019, the verdict was upheld by thePennsylvania Superior Court on the initial level of appeal.[154]
On June 23, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a further level of appeal of Cosby's sexual assault conviction based on questions about testimony from a witness being "more prejudicial than probative". The court would hear his appeal on arguments of whether it was proper for the judge to allow fiveprosecution witnesses to testify in the case about prior, unrelated instances of sexual assault, and to permit the jury to learn of adeposition in which Cosby admitted to giving Quaaludes to other women in the past to facilitate sexual encounters. The court also agreed to review whether Cosby's rights were violated by being prosecuted in the Constand matter, after a former prosecutor had informed Cosby that he would not be prosecuted for the assault, resulting in Cosby's agreeing to testify without claiming his self-incrimination privilege in his accuser's civil lawsuit.[155]
On June 30, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby's conviction, citing violations of his due process rights.[147] According to JusticeDavid Wecht, "Even though society has a strong interest in prosecuting crimes, it has an even stronger interest in ensuring that the constitutional rights of the people are vindicated."[156] The following situation was cited: previously in February 2005, District AttorneyBruce Castor declared in a press release that due to insufficient evidence rendering a conviction "unattainable", he "declines to authorize the filing of criminal charges" against Cosby regarding allegations Andrea Constand made against him.[147] Castor said he did so to compel Cosby to testify in a civil lawsuit, brought by Constand, without the right to not incriminate himself as accorded by theFifth Amendment to the United States Constitution,[157] so that Constand could windamages from Cosby.[158] Cosby testified that he had given ConstandBenadryl, and that he had separately providedQuaaludes to women he wanted to have sex with.[159] Cosby settled the civil lawsuit by paying $3.38 million.[6] Six of the seven Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices interpreted Castor's 2005 press release as a promise not to prosecute Cosby,[147] which led Cosby to provide testimony in his civil lawsuit that was later used as key evidence in his criminal trial;[6] thus, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that Cosby's due process rights were violated.[147] The court further barred prosecution of Cosby "on these particular charges".[6]
Cosby was released from prison on the same day that his conviction was overturned.[6] He had served nearly three years before Pennsylvania's Supreme Court overturned his conviction.[160][161] In November 2021, the District Attorney filed papers with theSupreme Court of the United States seeking to have the Court consider whether to overturn the decision of the state supreme court. Cosby's attorney filed a response in late January 2022, urging the Supreme Court to decline review. On March 7, 2022, the court declined to review the decision of the Pennsylvania court.[162]
Cosby's legal issues continued following his release from prison. In 2014, Judy Huth had filed a civil suit against Cosby in California, alleging that he had sexually assaulted her in 1975, when she was 16 years old. The trial began in 2022, and the jury ruled in Huth's favor. Cosby was ordered to pay $500,000 in compensatory damages.[9]
Legacy
Influence on other comedians
Before the 2014 allegations, younger, well-established comics likeJerry Seinfeld had credited Cosby as an innovator both as a practitioner of stand-up comedy, as well as a person who paved the way for comics to break into sitcom television.
Seinfeld said of Cosby: "He opened a door for all of us, for all of the networks to even consider that this was a way to create a character, was to take someone who can hold an audience just by being up there and telling their story. He created that. He created the whole idea of taking a quote-unquote 'comic' and developing a TV show just from a persona that you see on stage."[163]
ComedianLarry Wilmore also saw a connection betweenBill Cosby: Himself and the later success ofThe Cosby Show, saying: "It's clear that the concert is the template forThe Cosby Show."[163]
Impact of sexual assault allegations on Cosby's legacy
Joan Tarshis, who had accused Cosby of raping her, within aSalon.com article, compared Cosby's damaged legacy to that ofO. J. Simpson, saying: "When you hear O. J. Simpson's name, you don't think 'Oh, great football player'. That doesn't come to mind first. I'm thinking it's not going to be 'Oh, great comedian'. It's going to be 'Oh, serial rapist'."[164]
In 2015,Ebony magazine released an issue with the allegations against Cosby as the cover story, discussing the importance ofThe Cosby Show and if it is possible to separate Bill Cosby from Cliff Huxtable. The cover depicted a photograph of the Huxtables with a cracked frame, symbolizing the show's damaged and complicated legacy.[165]
In late 2018, the Christmas song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was pulled from several radio stations amid controversy that its lyrics allegedly promote sexual predation. Susan Loesser, daughter of composerFrank Loesser, blamed Bill Cosby for backlash against its lyric "say, what's in this drink?". Loesser said, "Bill Cosby is ruining it for everybody.... Ever since Cosby was accused of drugging women, I hear the date rape thing all the time.... I think it would be good if people looked at the song in the context of the time. It was written in 1944. It was a different time."[166]
The 2022 premiere of the 21st season ofLaw & Order touched on the Cosby cases, with the plot being centered around the murder of an entertainer (in this case a singer) released from prison after his conviction was overturned in a manner resembling Cosby's. Like Cosby, he had been accused of many counts of rape yet maintained his innocence but was shot and killed by a victim looking for revenge.[167]
In 2022,W. Kamau Bell released theShowtime documentaryWe Need to Talk About Cosby, which explores Cosby's life and career up to his sexual assault cases, through conversations with comedians, journalists, and survivors.[168] A representative for Cosby issued a statement days prior to the series's premiere, stating: "Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work because of race and gender within the expanses of the entertainment industries, continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths ... intentionally. Mr. Cosby vehemently denies all allegations waged against him. Let's talk about Bill Cosby. He wants our nation to be what it proclaims itself to be: a democracy."[169][170]
Personal life
Cosby has been married to the formerCamille Hanks since January 25, 1964. Together, they have five children, two of whom are deceased:Erika (born 1965), Erinn (born 1966), Ennis (1969–1997), Ensa (1973–2018), and Evin (born 1976). Their only son,Ennis, was murdered on January 16, 1997, while changing a flat tire on the side ofInterstate 405 in Los Angeles.[171] Cosby's daughter Ensa died ofrenal disease on February 23, 2018, while awaiting a kidney transplant.[172] The Cosbys have three grandchildren.[11][173] Cosby, aProtestant,[174] maintains homes inShelburne, Massachusetts, andCheltenham, Pennsylvania.[175]
Cosby and his wife have collected more than three hundred works ofAfrican-American art since 1967. The works went on display in "Conversations", an exhibit at theNational Museum of African Art in 2014.[180] The show was controversial because of the sexual assault allegations made against Cosby.[181]
Cosby is a supporter of his alma mater, Temple University, particularly its men's basketball team, theTemple Owls, whose games Cosby frequently attended prior to his arrest. He is also a member of theOmega Psi Phi fraternity; he was initiated in the fraternity's Beta Alpha Alpha graduate chapter inWhite Plains, New York, in 1988,[182] and served briefly on the board of directors for theCDC Foundation.[183]
In 2016, Cosby's attorneys reported that he is now legallyblind.[184] In April 2017, Cosby agreed to be interviewed by theNational Newspaper Publishers Association, because, as Andrew Wyatt, his spokesman, stated, "they grew comfortable that the NNPA Newswire would be more interested in 'facts oversensationalism'." In the interview, both Cosby and one of his former publicists confirmed the loss of eyesight, noting that it occurred at some point in 2015.[185][186]
Following his release from prison in 2021, Cosby was reported to be attempting to make a post-prison comeback. Plans for the comeback included a comedy tour that would go from the United States to Canada to London, with Cosby's team having contacted a number of promoters and comedy clubs about performance opportunities. It was also reported that Cosby was working on a five-part docuseries that covers his legacy and his experience in prison, and that he was planning on releasing a book.[187] Later in September, it was reported that Cosby put his plans for a comeback on hold due to ongoing legal problems.[188]
Politics and views
Cosby received an award at the celebration of the 50th-anniversary commemoration ofBrown v. Board of Education ruling—a ruling of theU.S. Supreme Court that outlawedracial segregation in public schools. Later, in May 2004, he made public remarks critical of African Americans who put higher priorities on sports, fashion, and "acting hard" than on education, self-respect, and self-improvement. He pleaded for African American families to educate their children on the many different aspects ofAmerican culture.[189][190] In thePound Cake speech, Cosby asked that African American parents teach their children better morals at a younger age. As reported inThe Washington Times, Cosby "told reporters during a special session of theCongressional Black Caucus Foundation's 34th annual legislative conference [that] parenting needs to come to the forefront. If you need help and you don't know how to parent, we want to be able to reach out and touch you."[191] Richard Leiby ofThe Washington Post reported, "Bill Cosby was anything butpolitically correct in his remarks Monday night at a Constitution Hall bash commemorating the 50th anniversary of theBrown v. Board of Education decision."[192]
Cosby was again criticized, and was largely unapologetic, for his stance when he made similar remarks during a speech at a July1 meeting of theRainbow/PUSH Coalition that commemorated the anniversary ofBrown v. Board, where he said: "...you've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're [earning] minimum wage."[193][194] During that speech, he admonished blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counterproductive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as blacks who "had forgotten the sacrifices of those in theCivil Rights Movement".[195]
In 2005,Georgetown University sociology professorMichael Eric Dyson wrote a book,Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has theBlack Middle Class Lost Its Mind?[196] In the book, Dyson wrote that Cosby was overlooking larger social factors that reinforce poverty and associated crime; factors such as deteriorating schools, stagnating wages, dramatic shifts in the economy,offshoring and downsizing, chronic underemployment, and job andcapital flight.[197] Dyson suggested that Cosby's comments "betrayclassist,elitist viewpoints rooted in generational warfare".[196] However,Cornel West defended Cosby and his remarks, saying: "He's speaking out of great compassion and trying to get folk to get on the right track, 'cause we've got some brothers and sisters who are not doing the right things, just like in times in our own lives, we don't do the right thing... He is trying to speak honestly and freely and lovingly, and I think that's a very positive thing."[198]
In a 2008 interview, Cosby mentioned Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit,Oakland, California, andSpringfield, Massachusetts among the cities where crime was high and young African American men were being murdered and jailed in disproportionate numbers. Cosby stood his ground against criticism and affirmed that African American parents were continuing to fail to inculcate proper standards of moral behavior.[199] AfterBarack Obama was elected president, Cosby expressed strong approval of the incoming President, despite publicly giving the impression that he was more miffed towards Obama in November 2007.[200][201][202][203]
Cosby has also been critical ofconservativeRepublican politicians in regard to their views on socioeconomic and racial issues. In a 2013,CNN interview regardingvoting rights, Cosby stated "this Republican Party is not the Republican Party of 1863, ofAbraham Lincoln,abolitionists andslavery, is not good. I think it's important for us to look at the underlying part of it. What is the value of it? Is it that some people are angry because my people no longer want to work for free?"[204] Cosby's social commentary led to the unsealing of documents in a previous civil suit by a woman who had accused Cosby of sexual assault, which in turn sparked renewed interest in older allegations. The judge ruled that releasing the sealed documents was justified by the "stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct".[205]
Cosby had a starring role in the television secret-agent showI Spy (1965–1968) oppositeRobert Culp, and made history when Cosby won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, making him the first African American to earn an Emmy Award for acting. Cosby's acting career continued as he starred in the sitcomThe Bill Cosby Show, which ran for two seasons from 1969 to 1971.
Beginning in the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred inThe Cosby Show, which was rated as the number-one show in America from 1985 through 1989. The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an affluent African American family, and Cosby gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal ofCliff Huxtable on the sitcom. Cosby produced the spin-off sitcomA Different World, which aired from 1987 to 1993. His 1983 comedy filmBill Cosby: Himself was well regarded by comedians and critics, with some calling it the greatest stand-up concert movie ever. Cosby also starred inThe Cosby Mysteries (1994–1995), the sitcomCosby (1996–2000) and hostedKids Say the Darndest Things (1998–2000). He then created and produced the animated children's programLittle Bill (1999–2004).
Cosby, Bill (2003).I Am What I Ate ... and I'm Frightened!!!: And Other Digressions from the Doctor of Comedy. New York: HarperEntertainment.ISBN978-0-06-054573-4.OCLC52387894.
^Woolery, George W. (1985).Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. Lanham, Maryland:The Scarecrow Press. pp. 393–394.ISBN0-8108-1651-2.
^Bryant, Jennings; Bryant, J. Alison, eds. (2001).Television and the American Family. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. p. 209.doi:10.4324/9781410600172.ISBN9781410600172.
^"Cosby To Produce, Star In Pic For Col".Variety. July 9, 1986. p. 4.
^National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. 1994. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. 1991. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present (9 ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 736–737.ISBN978-0-345-49773-4.
^Miley, Marissa (January 8, 2009)."Black Agency Employees Paid 20% Less Than Whites".Advertising Age.OCLC39911225. Archived fromthe original on August 22, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2013.Referencing Nat King Cole's comment that Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark, Mr. Mehri said, 'They're going to be afraid of the sunshine we're going to bring to the industry.'
^Whitaker, Mark (September 16, 2014).Cosby: His Life and Times. Simon and Schuster. p. 269.ISBN978-1451697995.
^The Wendy Williams Show (November 19, 2014), clip telling her story about her 1990Dishing The Dirt radio show (on 98.7 Kiss in New York) where she had discussed Cosby allegations as reported inThe National Enquirer, with Cosby personally phoning her station manager demanding that she be fired.
^Huber, Robert (June 9, 2006)."Dr. Huxtable & Mr. Hyde".Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: Metro Corp. Archived fromthe original on November 12, 2018. RetrievedMay 4, 2018.
^Reporter who saw Cosby's scandal coming, Bob Huber interviewed about his 2006 magazine article that highlighted Cosby allegations (2014 CNN report, uploaded to YouTube on Nov 30)
^McQuade, Dan (October 17, 2014)."Hannibal Buress on Bill Cosby: You're a Rapist".Philadelphia Magazine. Phillymag.com. RetrievedApril 24, 2015.He gets on TV, 'Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the 80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!' Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches.
^Bowley, Graham; Ember, Sydney (July 18, 2015)."Bill Cosby, in Deposition, Said Drugs and Fame Helped Him Seduce Women".The New York Times. RetrievedJuly 19, 2015....he presented himself in the deposition as an unapologetic, cavalier playboy, someone who used a combination of fame, apparent concern and powerful sedatives in a calculated pursuit of young women... He admitted to giving young women Quaaludes at that time 'the same as a person would say have a drink', he said, but not without their knowledge.
^Bowley, Graham (February 6, 2019)."Bill Cosby, isolated no more, joins other inmates in prison".Toronto Star.But last week authorities moved him from so-called administrative segregation to join the general population in a wing that houses other inmates, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Steve Baker,Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham,James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda,Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy,Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo,Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro,Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark (2013)
_(cropped_to_Cosby).jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
