Bill Cosby Says Nothing When Asked About Sexual Assault Allegations
In an interview with NPR Saturday, Bill Cosby was asked to respond to claims that he sexually assaulted several women—but Cosby just shook his head no, according to “Weekend Edition’’ host Scott Simon.
Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, were talking to Simon about their collection of African art on display at the Smithsonian Institution. About 3 minutes and 35 seconds into the interview, Simon took the conversation elsewhere.
“This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby. But there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days.’’ There is an audible pause, then Simon said, “You’re shaking your head ‘no.’’’
A handful of women have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault for years. But the former “Cosby Show’’ star has come under fresh scrutiny after comedian Hannibal Buress referred to Cosby as a “rapist’’ during a set last month. Artist Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby’s alleged victims, also wrote an essay for the Washington Post this week, in which she accused Cosby of drugging and raping her. Amid the swirling allegations, news broke this week that an appearance by Bill Cosby on David Letterman’s late-night show had been canceled by Cosby.
“I’m in the news business, I have to ask the question,’’ Simon continued. “Do you have any response to those charges?’’
There was another pause. Simon said, “You’re shaking your head no. There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance.’’
After a few seconds, it was clear Cosby would not respond to the question, and Simon returned to the topic of the couple’s African art collection.
This week Cosby — or whoever handles Cosby’s Twitter account — invited social media users to “meme’’ him with the hashtag #cosbymeme last week. Things quickly got out of hand:
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The tweet requesting memes seems to have been deleted, but the account is retweeting social media users who support him:
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Bill Cosby’s website features a post by Dr. Christine Kreamer, curator at the Smithsonian, where she writes about the success of the Cosby couple’s art exhibit.
“Many people came up to me and thanked our museum for creating such a beautiful, rich, and thought-provoking exhibition, and they expressed gratitude that the good Drs. Cosby so generously shared their collection with the general public so that the names and accomplishments of the artists who created such magnificent works of art are not lost to history (paraphrasing what I heard Dr. Bill say on more than one occasion),’’ she writes.
Beneath the post?
“Comments are closed.’’
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