What They’re Saying About Bill Cosby
Monday’s revelation that Bill Cosby testified in a deposition a decade ago that he had obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with seems to have marked a turning point in the scandal surrounding the comedian.
It is still the case that Cosby has never faced criminal charges and has denied all allegations, although there are now several civil lawsuits outstanding. (His newly revealed testimony came in a decade-old lawsuit he settled privately.) Indeed, ABC News reports the “Cosby camp” released a statement after the court documents became public: “The only reason Mr. Cosby settled was because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all those women on the stand and his family had no clue,” the Cosby camp said in a statement to ABC News. “That would have been very hurtful.”
But at least one high-profile supporter reversed course Monday, saying evidence of Cosby’s admission was enough to put her on the side of the women who have emerged in recent months saying he assaulted them after being drugged by him.
About Bill Cosby. Sadly his own testimony offers PROOF of terrible deeds, which is ALL I have ever required to believe the accusations.
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) July 6, 2015
1) We live in America. Many African American men are detained &/or imprisoned for crimes without evidence. I will never jump on bandwagons
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) July 6, 2015
2) based on social media or hearsay. Proof will always matter more than public opinion. The sworn testimony is proof. Completely disgusted.
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) July 6, 2015
The comedy director Judd Apatow, on the other hand, was in more of an “I told you so” mood. He said, “I don’t think there is anything new here. It is only new to people who didn’t believe an enormous amount of women who stated clearly that he drugged them. We shouldn’t need Bill Cosby to admit it to believe forty people who were victimized by him. I am sure there are many victims who have not come forward. Maybe now more people in show business and all around our country will stand up and tell the people he attacked that we support you and believe you. I also hope Camille Cosby and Phylicia Rashad will now stand with the victims and not with their attacker.”
Attorneys for Cosby’s accusers seized upon the new information Monday, AP reports.
Lisa Bloom, the lawyer for Janice Dickinson, the model and Cosby accuser, said: “It is time for Mr. Cosby to stop hiding behind his attorneys and publicists and to publicly apologize to Ms. Dickinson and the 46 other women who have publicly accused him of sexual assault.”
Gloria Allred, another attorney in the matter, added “This admission is one that Mr. Cosby has attempted to hide from the public for many years and we are very gratified that it is now being made public.”
“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,” accuser Joan Tarshis told CNN. “And now that the truth has come out — that he has bought drugs in order to drug women to have sex with him — I’m just so relieved that the truth has come out.”
“I think we’re going to be heard now,” accuser Barbara Bowman told CNN. “And I think this is just the beginning.”
