7/20/2015
The latest dish in the Cosby catastrophe comes straight from the Commander in Chief. When asked recently about revoking the comedian’s Medal of Freedom, the president popped the pudding purveyor. Currently, there is no procedure in place to revoke the medal. While not directly mentioning Cosby, President Obama spoke out on his opinion of the situation in general.
“If you give a woman, or a man, for that matter, without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with them, that’s rape. This country, and any civilized country, should have no tolerance for rape.”
After the release of comedian Bill Cosby’s formerly sealed testimony that he gave Quaaludes to at least on unsuspecting woman for the express purpose of having sex with her, the public scrutiny has been increasing exponentially. It hit an all-time high recently when a petition on the White House website was started by a rape survivor advocacy group. The petition asks President Obama to revoke Cosby’s Medal of Freedom. To date, the petition has 14,199 of the 100K signatures it needs.
Over two-dozen women have accused 77 year-old Cosby of sexual assault, several of them mentioning the drug/rape combination. The accusations cover a 40-year time span. His lawyers deny that these accusations have any truth. So far, no criminal charges have been made, either.
One of Cosby’s biggest critics, Judd Apatow, said there shouldn’t be a need for the comedian to admit his guilt in order for the public to be able to believe his victims. “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.”
Pudding Pop’s victims agree. Janice Dickinson, a 1982 victim, stated that the admission makes her feel “validated. It shows that he and all his people knew all along that we were telling the truth.”
Singer Jill Scott, a former Cosby defender, changed her tune after Cosby’s admission. She tweeted, “Sadly his own testimony offers PROOF of terrible deeds, which is ALL I have ever required to believe the accusations.”
Even Whoopi Goldberg, one of Cos’ biggest supporters, switched tracks saying she could no longer say “innocent until proven guilty. If this is to be tried in the court of public opinion, I got to say all of the information that’s out there kind of points to guilt,” she stated on The View. “It looks bad, Bill.”
Hollywood, where “seeming is being,” has been reacting by distancing themselves from what many believe will become a legal meltdown. Nickelodeon no longer airs reruns of The Cosby Show, Netflix canceled a Cosby standup comedy special and NBC has officially severed all ties with the comedian.
You know it’s bad when even your agent fires you, as Creative Artists Agency did to Cosby earlier this year.
In a long-expected turn of events, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that there is at least one ongoing criminal investigation into Cosby’s actions. No details were revealed other than that the case “may have multiple accusations.” The LAPD won’t comment further on ongoing cases.
It remains to be seen if the Oval Office will move to revoke Cosby’s Medal of Freedom, but it must sting to have the leader of your country refer to your behavior (even indirectly) as uncivilized.
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