The Case Against Cosby: Sex-Assault Allegations Recast Star’s Legacy
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About this ebook
Bill Cosby has always played the good guy on stage and TV, building his career on his easygoing, family-friendly comic persona. So the overwhelming tide of sexual assault allegations against him is hard for many Americans to reconcile with the character they know from the airwaves. The accusations represent a stunning reshaping of his lifelong legacy in an extraordinarily short amount of time.
Yet Cosby has yet to be charged with any crime. Cosby's attorney has called the accusations against the comedian "ridiculous." His wife has defended him wholeheartedly, and Cosby himself has dismissed the charges as rumor and innuendo.
The Washington Post has interviewed five of the women who accused Cosby of assaulting them. The women agreed to speak on the record and to have their identities revealed. The Post also has reviewed court records that shed light on the allegations of a former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University and the thirteen "Jane Doe" accusers who stood with her.
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The Case Against Cosby - The Washington Post
The Case Against Cosby
Sex-Assault Allegations Recast Star’s Legacy
The Washington Post
Copyright
Diversion Books
A Division of Diversion Publishing Corp.
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 1008
New York, NY 10016
www.DiversionBooks.com
Copyright © 2015 by The Washington Post
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For more information, email info@diversionbooks.com
First Diversion Books edition January 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62681-728-9
Introduction
Bill Cosby was always the good guy on TV, building his career on a family friendly comic persona. His landmark TV sitcom, The Cosby Show,
further established him as a kind of sweater-wearing America’s dad.
So the steady stream of sexual assault allegations against him – which came to a crescendo in the waning weeks of 2014 – is hard for many Americans to reconcile with the character they know from the airwaves.
The accusations represent a stunning reshaping of his lifelong legacy in an extraordinarily short amount of time. Very few former colleagues have spoken up in his defense, and many of the people and institutions that he has been associated with during his long career have denounced him outright, or distanced themselves from him, expressing utter disbelief.
His latest comeback has effectively been canceled. The Cosby Show
has disappeared from cable, and new sitcom plans have been shelved.
At least 23 women have now accused the comedian of sexual misconduct ranging from groping to rape. Twelve women say he drugged them first and another said he tried to drug her.
Yet Cosby has yet to be charged with any crime. Cosby's attorney, Martin Singer, has called the accusations against the comedian ridiculous.
His wife has defended him wholeheartedly, and Cosby himself has dismissed the charges as rumor and innuendo.
So what is the truth behind the allegations? What is the case against Cosby?
The Washington Post has interviewed five of the women who accused Cosby of assaulting them, including a former Playboy Playmate who had never spoken publicly about her allegations. The women agreed to speak on the record and to have their identities revealed. The Post also has reviewed court records that shed light on the accusations of a former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University who assembled 13 Jane Doe
accusers in 2005 to testify on her behalf about their allegations against Cosby.
For the first time, the accusers’ stories have been gathered in an ebook. Bill Cosby’s defense of himself, and his wife’s, are collected here as well, so that readers can judge for themselves whether or not this American icon is forever fallen.
Bill Cosby’s legacy, recast: Accusers speak in detail about sexual-assault allegations
By Manuel Roig-Franzia, Scott Higham, Paul Farhi and Mary Pat Flaherty
November 22, 2014
They didn’t see a comedian. They saw the king of the world.
Long before there was a Dr. Cliff Huxtable, before rumpled sweaters and a collective anointing as America’s dad, Bill Cosby was magnified a hundredfold in the eyes of the young models and actresses he pulled into his orbit. For them, he embodied the hippest of the 1960s and ’70s Hollywood scene, a mega-star with the power to make somebodies out of nobodies.
He partied with Hugh Hefner and was a regular at the magazine mogul’s Playboy Mansion bacchanals. He co-owned a restaurant and hit the hottest clubs. He sizzled.
Those wild, largely forgotten days clash with the avuncular image that has been Cosby’s most enduring impression on American culture. And they have been jarringly cast in a wholly different light as a torrent of women have told — and in some cases retold — graphic, highly detailed stories of alleged abuse by Cosby.
Sixteen women have publicly stated that Cosby, now 77, sexually assaulted them, with 12 saying he drugged them first and another saying he tried to drug her. The Washington Post has interviewed five of those women, including a former Playboy Playmate who has never spoken publicly about her allegations. The women agreed to speak on the record and to have their identities revealed. The Post also has reviewed court records that shed light on the accusations of a former director of women’s basketball operations at Temple University who assembled 13 Jane Doe
accusers in