Why We All Ignored the Bill Cosby Rape Charges for 10 Years [View all]

[SidDithers]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/why-we-all-ignored-bill-cosby-rape-charges-10-years/

By now you've probably heard that Bill Cosby has been accused of drugging and raping more than a dozen women over the course of his 50-year career as a stand-up comedian, sitcom father, pudding salesman, and model of terrible sweaters (he also made a cartoon about a terrifyingly obese child with a debilitating speech impediment somewhere in there, presumably to complete some kind of career bingo card).

In response to the allegations, NBC canceled its plans to produce a new sitcom with Cosby, and Netflix has indefinitely postponed Cosby's new stand-up special, which was originally scheduled to debut later this month. TV Land is even pulling all reruns of The Cosby Show from its lineup, despite the fact that it probably accounts for around half of their programming. If that weren't enough, here's a super uncomfortable video of Cosby vaguely gibber-stuttering his way out of answering any questions about the allegations, as if haunting accusations of rape will simply disappear like the boogeyman if you deny that they exist. Things are looking pretty grim for Cliff Huxtable.

To be clear, I'm not here to talk about whether Cosby is guilty or innocent -- far more intelligent people are going to be arguing that point in the weeks and months to come, and history will just have to make what it will of Cosby's legacy. Hopefully.

I say hopefully because, while four of these women just made their stories public within the last week, 14 of these accusations first hit the news almost 10 years ago. A former protege of Cosby's filed a civil suit against him in 2005, alleging that he drugged and sexually assaulted her, and 13 other women stepped forward to offer their own stories of assault as anonymous testimony should the case go to trial. However, the suit was ultimately settled out of court, and then America just kind of forgot about the whole thing. Netflix didn't pull any Cosby specials or movies from their catalog. TV Land kept right on airing Cosby Show reruns. The Internet didn't explode with Cosby rape memes.

I certainly didn't remember the accusations from 2005.

More, including comparisons to Woody Allen, at the link above.

Sid