Bill Cosby's 'public moralist' stance backfires

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Cosby's 'public moralist' stance backfires


(CNN) -His admission was kept under wraps for a decade. And Bill Cosby wanted it to stay that way.

But it was his own public stance as a moral evangelist that helped tip the scale for a judge this week. The judge decided to unseal documents revealing Cosby admitted, under oath, to getting drugs to give to women he wanted to have sex with.

For years, Cosby has espoused family values and chastised parts of society for a variety of issues, such as crime.

"The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP --- and by extension the public --- has a significant interest," U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno wrote in his decision to release the documents.

The records were unsealed Monday after the Associated Press went to court asking for their release.

Cosby, 77, had fought the release, arguing it would violate his and others' privacy and would be a source of embarrassment.

The 'Pound Cake' speech

The judge cited Cosby's 2004 "Pound Cake" speech, in which the comedian lambasted some African-Americans for what he considered bad parenting, a lack of personal responsibility and inexplicable crime.

"Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals," Cosby said. "These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"

The speech was largely aimed at parents whose children end up behind bars.

"I'm talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two?" Cosby said in 2004. "Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18, and how come you don't know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don't you know where he is? And why doesn't the father show up to talk to this boy?"

Now, it's Cosby who many believe is a criminal.

The bombshell admission

The unsealed deposition stemmed from a civil suit filed by Andrea Constand -- one of the dozens of women who have publicly accused the Cosby of sexual assault.

In the sworn deposition, Constand's attorney Dolores Troiani asked Cosby about the sedative drug Quaaludes.

"When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Troiani asked.

"Yes," Cosby replied.

"Did you ever give any of those young women the Quaaludes without their knowledge?" Troiani asked.

Cosby's attorney objected and told him not to answer the question.

While Cosby admitted that he acquired seven prescriptions of Quaaludes with the intent to give the sedatives to young women he wanted to have sex with, he has not admitted to actually drugging any of his accusers.

While Cosby's attorneys cite two women who "allegedly say that they knowingly took Quaaludes offered to them by Defendant in the late 1970's" -- one of them being former model Theresa Serignese, who has shared her accusations publicly -- they do not address the numerous women who say they were given pills for a variety of reasons, including to "cheer up."

Several women allege Cosby used cappuccino, soft drinks, wine or other beverages as vehicles to drug them, but accusers Constand, Serignese, Janice Dickinson, Tamara Green, Victoria Valentino, Donna Motsinger and a woman identified only as Chelan have alleged Cosby gave them capsules or pills -- sometimes billing them as medication -- before assaulting them.

Cosby's side: No comment

CNN has attempted to reach a lawyer and publicist for Cosby in response to the latest revelations, but without success.

"We have no plans to issue a statement," Cosby's longtime publicist David Brokaw said.

More than 25 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. The comedian has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing.

And in most of the cases, it's unlikely Cosby will ever be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has passed.

Vindication

Several women who have accused Cosby told CNN they felt vindicated by the released information.

"It's huge. I've worked so long and hard to tell my story and screamed my story onto deaf ears," said Barbara Bowman, who said Cosby assaulted her numerous times beginning in the late 1980s.

Joan Tarshis, who said Cosby raped her when she was 19, said she "never thought this day would happen."

"First of all, I kept it a secret because I was afraid to talk about it, because of Mr. Cosby's power. Then, when we came out, and lots of other women started to come out, we were called liars," she said. "I'm just so relieved that the truth has come out."

http://m.wcyb.com/nationalnews/cosbys-public-moralist-stance-backfires/34049008
 
I never knew Cosby was this much of a prick:

Teddy Pendergrass revealed in his book, “Truly Blessed” (which is a good read by the way, I definitely recommend it) that there was an incident where Bill Cosby caused him a great deal of public shame shortly after Teddy’s paralyzing car accident.Although it doesn’t necessarily sound like Cosby did it intentionally, that didn’t make Teddy P. any less embarrassed or angry at him about it. Here’s what he said happened…


When Teddy P. was scheduled to present Bill Cosby an award at a function in Philadelphia. He said:


“Bill came on stage, then surprised me and everyone else there by walking up to me, dropping a microphone in my lap and saying, “I’m not leaving here until you pick up that mike.” This was totally unplanned and I was taken aback. As I sat in my wheelchair, all I could do was shake my head no. I couldn’t even venture to guess why Bill was doing this. Did he think he was helping me? That putting me on the spot like this and making me struggle was somehow good for me? If Bill really knew me, he’d know how much I’d overcome just to be there. I thought Bill would get the message when I refused, so you can imagine my shock and horror when he shouted, “I’m not leaving here until you pick up that mike!” A nervous silence fell over the crowd. I was embarrassed, humiliated and furious. Didn’t he realize how devastated I’d be if I failed.

http://www.iloveoldschoolmusic.com/...-cosby-once-publicly-embarrassed-him-greatly/

MJ also said once he did not like Bill Cosby because he was rude and yelled at them when the Jackson 5 had a show with him when they were kids.

Anyway, more about the rape case:

Cosby accuser asks judge to void confidentiality deal, let her speak publicly about 2004 assault allegations

Andrea Constand, the former Temple University employee who lodged sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby in a 2005 lawsuit, now says she wants to publicly tell her story.


In court filings Wednesday, Constand asked a federal judge in Philadelphia to void a confidentiality agreement in her settlement deal with the comedian, saying he and his representatives have repeatedly violated its terms and have left her little recourse to respond.


She also asked for the release of a full transcript of a deposition Cosby gave in the case.


Excerpts of that deposition - unsealed this week - have reignited more recent controversy tied to allegations from more than two dozen other women who have also accused the 77-year-old comedian of sexual misconduct.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2..._publicly_about_2004_assault_allegations.html
 
He hasnt been convicted of anything yet, we as Mj fans know better than to judge till all the facts came in. I admit I dont want to believe it, I grew up watching The cosby show, but it looks bad. I think his rep is totally destroyed, probably no new shows and he is getting very old. I not sure if the chicks took the drugs knowing what it is or if Cosby lied about it/hid it in the drinks
 
Thank you Respect, for opening this thread in an appropriate place. Unfortunately, it's going to be inevitable that the cases are compared, because they're rich, powerful, famous black men accused of heinous crimes-much like we can't get away from comparisons to OJ and countless others. Even if they are all apples and oranges. I've run across it quite a bit already. This might be a good place to discuss places where they are compared, as well as just the Bill Cosby thing.


Anybody read Teddy's book? How did this end up?
 
Anybody read Teddy's book? How did this end up?

I don't have it. I just read it on another board and in this article. This too:

Bill Cosby Once Publicly Bullied A Notre Dame Football Player To Tears

In 1989, Cosby was invited to Notre Dame to speak to a group of about 50 black graduates. While speaking with the students, Cosby asked All-American tackle Dean Brown what his GPA was. When Brown told him it was a 2.5, Cosby proceeded to humiliate him in front of the other students and parents:
"What do you think of a 2.5 average?" Cosby asked.
"I think it's decent," replied Brown, who was recently drafted by pro football's Indianapolis Colts.
Cosby snarled back: "2.5 is OK if you have a mental disorder. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should have worked harder."
Tears streamed down the 290-lbs. Brown's face as he tried to defend himself: "I worked hard. I did my best..."
But Cosby cut him short. "You didn't do enough."
It's worth noting that Bill Cosby is a college dropout who earned a sham doctorate from UMass Amherst after becoming rich and famous.
Brown died suddenly in 2012 after a blood clot passed through his lung. Based on this Chicago Tribune article written shortly after his death, Brown was a good guy who was beloved by his teammates. He didn't end up playing pro football, but he did work in the education field, serving as a dean of students and a principal at schools in Washington D.C. and Cleveland. He and his brother had also planned to start a Saturday school and run a camping program for at-risk youths.

http://deadspin.com/bill-cosby-once-publicly-bullied-a-notre-dame-football-1661325778

While this has little to do with whether he is a rapist or not, but the Judge seems to have weighed in his public hypocrisy when he decided to unseal those deposition documents. I did not follow Bill Cosby much but I know that there was talk about his hypocrisy before on forums I am on. Always lecturing others from a high horse, acting like he is better than them - and often in a humiliating, rude manner like in the above story.
 
He hasnt been convicted of anything yet, we as Mj fans know better than to judge till all the facts came in. I admit I dont want to believe it, I grew up watching The cosby show, but it looks bad. I think his rep is totally destroyed, probably no new shows and he is getting very old. I not sure if the chicks took the drugs knowing what it is or if Cosby lied about it/hid it in the drinks

Being a Michael Jackson fan has nothing to do with any of this. If I was to admit to anyone that I bought sedatives to give to women in order to have sex with them I would be disowned by everyone I know plus more.

This should be absolutely no different for Bill Cosby. This admission alone is f*ucking appalling. Dirty f*cking b*stard.
 
Being a Michael Jackson fan has nothing to do with any of this. If I was to admit to anyone that I bought sedatives to give to women in order to have sex with them I would be disowned by everyone I know plus more.

This should be absolutely no different for Bill Cosby. This admission alone is f*ucking appalling. Dirty f*cking b*stard.


:bugeyed That's what had me all f*cked up; he ADMITTED to purchasing the drugs for that purpose! Why would he buy the dope if he wasn't going to use it? Talk about childhood images being blown all to hell...I grew up watching "Fat Albert" and his Cosby specials. And to think during all of this he was married and raising children, putting up a front of a normal life, the perfect hubby and father!

I wasn't aware that he was an assh*le and it's sickening and sad that he humiliated Teddy Pendergrass (and the college kid) like that. I didn't know that he was an assh*le to Mike and his brothers when they were children, either.

Mr. Cosby was revered and highly respected, many people saw him as a role model, especially since he kept his comedy clean. Too bad he was masking a proclivity that was pretty much criminal and despicable. I feel sick about it, betrayed.

WTF WTF WTF WTF :(
 
:bugeyed Mr. Cosby was revered and highly respected, many people saw him as a role model, especially since he kept his comedy clean. Too bad he was masking a proclivity that was pretty much criminal and despicable. I feel sick about it, betrayed.

WTF WTF WTF WTF :(
I'll say that reading people's comments here, and especially yours, Sheila, have just made me feel really sad and sorry. When I first heard about this, my first thoughts were about a different time and place-I cut my teeth reading bios of movie stars, and came of age in the disco world-all my friends were show biz wannabes (I was the quiet, shy, "mascot" type as Brooke ******* put it-so no one bothered me then and actually protected me) and the casting couch stories and just free and easy sex were the thing. Quaaludes were everywhere, along with the alcohol. So I wasn't at all surprised about this-because Cosby is an actor and and NOT Dr. Huxtable. I just figured that it was consensual. I can't imagine women just taking pills because he said to, unless they knew what was going on and were trying to get ahead in their careers. Also with that many women piling on, I assumed at least half were just piling on for publicity.
Everybody seems so shocked that all these young girls were at the Playboy mansion-well, didn't Michael and Tatum go there when they were pretty young? Lots of people did-back then.

And I'm NOT blaming victims either-I think I already admitted in another thread that I was "date raped" in the 80's-no drugs involved (as far as I know), but alcohol was, and it was awful, but I also blamed myself for getting in that situation. It was really horrible too-but there was no such thing called "date rape" back then. I thought of rape as something that happened by a stranger in a back alley-even though there really is no difference.

I still think this is what happened to a certain extent. That most of these women were willing participants at the time. BUT where I think Cosby screwed up, is when he started to believe that, like everyone else, that he WAS Dr. Huxtable, and that he was a voice of conscience to the younger generation, and his new mission was to guide young people on the path to the straight and narrow. And that makes me sad-if you're going to be a paragon of virtue, then clean up your own act first. If he had stopped doing this in the 70's, I would probably just say "that's Hollywood." But the fact that he continued doing one thing, and talking another for decades is decidedly upsetting.
And I honestly feel really bad for everyone who really looked up to him.
 
I appreciate the insight of your experiences, Barbee! Things were pretty fast and loose in the 60s-70s and some of what went on more than likely was consensual, but he is a million times foul for taking away choice from those that didn't consent. My only jab at the alleged victims is why didn't they expose this sooner, go to the police and try to prevent this from happening to those that came behind them? Somebody could have stopped the snowball from hell rolling, ffs! I don't buy that "Cosby's so powerful" jive, either. We're talking about the 60s and 70s, when it was still very dangerous for black men, especially when associating with white women (the majority of Cosby's alleged victims.) Something stinks about this other than Cosby himself.
 
Hmm, not good. I'm guessing the documents for this deposition will end up on TMZ soon
 
If someone is going to ask me how it looks to me.. I'd say it "looks" like he did it, but being here - we should ALL know better than to assume that he's guilty because of the type of allegations.. I would guess no one here has studied the facts about these allegations on the same level they did Michaels allegations?
 
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