Jerry Seinfeld: Take My Endorsement Off Cosby Biography
Bill Cosby (Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com) and Jerry Seinfeld (Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com)
One by one the Cosby empire is crumbling. Reruns of The Cosby Show have been pulled from several (if not all hosting networks), his agent in Hollywood has jumped ship and now AP reports that plans to turn his recently released biography, Cosby, into paperback have been nixed.
The bio, written by Mark Whitaker, has been criticized for bypassing any mention of the sexual assault allegations against Cosby over the years. It was released in September via Simon and Schuster to rave reviews, but those tunes are changing after more than two dozen women claim the legendary comedian sexually assaulted them.
Previous supporters are backing away, too. Simon and Schuster says it had been contacted by celebrities who had endorsed the product to have their blurbs pulled from online booksellers like Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Big namers like Mary Tyler Moore, Billy Crystal, David Letterman and Jerry Seinfeld all sang the book and Cosby’s praises.
Seinfeld, for instance, wrote: “I know certain religions forbid idol worship. If anyone ever told me I had to stop idolizing Bill Cosby, I would say, ‘Sorry, but I’m out of this religion. … So if you want to join the Religion of Cosby, as I did back in 1966, Mark Whitaker’s wonderful new book would be our Bible.”
A rep for Seinfeld told the The Hollywood Reporter that “We were unaware that those quotes were still in circulation, and are asking the publisher to refrain from their future use.”
