Posted on 11/19/2014 5:19:23 AM PST by WhiskeyX
Streaming service Netflix has postponed a Bill Cosby comedy special in the wake of allegations of sexual assault that have resurfaced in recent weeks.
Bill Cosby 77 was to have been streamed from 27 November. It is not clear when or if the special will now be shown.
Netflix's announcement came shortly after Tuesday's airing of an interview with a model and TV host who claimed Cosby sexually assaulted her in 1982.
Cosby's lawyer previously said the comedian would be making no comment.
John P Schmidt said the allegations were a "decade-old [and] discredited" and that he did not intend to "dignify [them] with any comment".
A follow-up statement amended the earlier denial to say it did not refer to Andrea Constand, an accuser whose civil action against him was settled in 2006.
The latest allegation came from TV presenter Janice Dickinson, who accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her after a dinner date in Lake Tahoe, California.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
That didn't stop Anita Hill...
Read this article about Jimmy Savile in the UK to understand what is going on with Cosby, IMHO.
“How BBC star Jimmy Savile allegedly got away with abusing 500 children and sex with dead bodies”
Jimmy Savile was never a handsome man. His face, even in his early days at the BBC, was all sharp edges — the hook of his nose, the jagged-tooth grin, the boggle-eyed look of eccentricity, humor and derangement. At times, he seemed almost make believe. He had platinum hair. A fat cigar perpetually hung out of his mouth. He seemed to communicate exclusively in catchphrases: “now then, now then,” “howzabout that then,” “as it ‘appens.” The kids just loved his gags.
There was always something off about Savile, who hosted the BBC’s “Jim’ll Fix it,” palled around with the royal family, reportedly spent holidays with the Thatchers and was knighted not only by Queen Elizabeth but by Pope John Paul II. But most forgave his idiosyncratic nature. He was, after all, a great man. He raised $5.2 million for a hospital in Leeds, one of the United Kingdom’s largest. He volunteered countless hours as a hospital aide, busing patients to and fro. He helped scores of young doctors get their starts.
Sure, there were rumors. Whispers that he wasn’t everything he seemed. Murmurs he was really a sexual predator and had abused dozens of children. But they never stuck. Not Jimmy Savile, people told themselves — not “fix-it Jim.”
On October 29, 2011, Savile died at his home in Leeds. “Most of all, I remember him as just a totally flamboyant, over-the-top, larger-than-life character,” radio presenter David Hamilton told the Guardian, praising his “tireless” philanthropy. “And as he was on the air, he was just the same off.”
But he wasn’t. And just how wrong that assessment was emerged this month.
Savile, according to a U.K. National Health Service investigation released Thursday, was a prolific pedophile. The health service investigation only confirmed behavior described in several earlier probes since his death. In all, Savile is believed to have abused at least 500 girls and boys, some as young as two, most between 13 and 15, as well as countless adults ranging up to 75 years old. With unfettered access to Leeds General Infirmary, the health service report said, he raped and fondled boys, girls, men and women in offices and corridors. He also allegedly committed sexual acts on dead bodies, and even told several hospital workers that he made jewelry out of one man’s glass eyeball.
As shocking as the findings are, even more shocking is the fact that Savile got away with it for so long. That realization has “shaken our country to the core,” U.K. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Thursday. For decades, while Savile hosted show after show and glad-handed, the abuse went on. Numerous columns have asked: How? How did no one know? Why wasn’t he stopped?
The answer, according to the National Health Service, psychologists, and academics, lies in the pervasive and intimidating power of celebrity. He was so well-known that even when his behavior struck some as strange or lewd, he was allowed to carry on because he was Jimmy Savile and was raising millions. “I don’t know if he were a law unto himself, but because of his celebrity status, he sort of basically had the run of the place,” one hospital worker told investigators.
One woman recalled Savile sexually assaulting her when she was 16. Even decades later, she told investigators, she remembered it vividly. After he was done, he turned an imperial eye to her. “You won’t talk about this,” he told her. “Nobody will believe you. I’m Jimmy Savile. I can get you.” The girl said she told her mother, but she didn’t believe her. The girl never talked about it again.
They even had to move his grave. And the BBC knew about the abuse for years and did NOTHING. Same with the NHS. Disgusting.
It’s horrible.
What is amazing to me also is that people knew. There were lawyers who settled at least one case out of court, settled because there were other victims ready to testify. So people knew, but he was worth too much money to them for them to be willing to do anything to stop him.
I think that Cosby’s M.O. is a variation on the Savile M.O.
Cosby was more selective, and wanted white model-types (like he had had for all those months he spent at the Playboy mansions, while married).
But both men used their celebrity status for protection.
Never been a fan since these reports came out ...
http://articles.latimes.com/1997/jul/16/news/mn-13121
Cosby Testifies About Secret Payments
Court: Comedian says he gave $100,000 to a woman who claims to be his daughter and her mother.
July 16, 1997
JOHN J. GOLDMAN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
NEW YORK — Bill Cosby testified Tuesday that he made secret payments over the years to the woman who claims to be his daughter and who prosecutors charge tried to extort $40 million from him.
The flow of money stopped only after Autumn Jackson approached CBS and his sponsors, threatening to tell a tabloid newspaper she was his illegitimate child, Cosby said.
“It is the end of what I am paying for . . . I feel it is irreversible,” Cosby testified, recalling his feelings as he instructed his lawyer to tell Shawn Upshaw, Jackson’s mother, of the demand.
Cosby said he had a brief affair with Upshaw in Las Vegas in the early 1970s, and over the years, he gave her a total of $100,000.
“Who instituted the affair?” Cosby was asked.
“I did,” he replied.
(snip)
This is where I am having a HUGE issue and back in the day of our founders I believe this is why we have the idea of:
Innocent until proven guilty
We have got to find a way to STOP THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION regarding “allegations” against people. It pains me to see innocent people deprived of their respect and livelihoods based on what has often been either outright false allegations.
Having an affair is not the same as raping someone.
The problem here is the apparent inability of some 13 to 16 alleged female victims finding themselves unable to take their complaints into a court of law, because the justice system and rule of law were denied to them in the first place. Some have said they went to the authorities and were laughed and/or scorned right out of their offices in disbelief and/or unwillingness to take the matter into a court of law.
***Innocent until proven guilty***
Let’s get Roman Polanski then. Already proven guilty of child rape.
You don’t believe the alleged victims have been denied their own reputations and livelihood because they were presumed to be guilty and not innocent when no one would represent them in a court of law?
There are rumors floating around that Jill Dando (BBC personality who was murdered execution style) may have known about a big pedo ring in the UK. They never found her killer.
Never implied it was.
But, his persona as the dedicated family man was nothing but an act. IMHO, he’s been a sleaze for decades.
“Let’s get Roman Polanski then. Already proven guilty of child rape.”
That’s not Rape Rape
It is indeed.
It ain't looking good for the COS.
I believe you overstepped the known facts with that statement.
Barbara Bowman found an attorney who didn't believe her, true.
However, I believe you'll find that six accusers were represented by attorney Joyce Dale. Cosby made recurring payments to some of those women.
You'll find that accuser Andrea Constad was represented in Constad v. Cosby, (E. Dist. Pa.) by Kivitz/Toiania, LLP. Bill Cosby settled that lawsuit.
I can do further research to see who represented the others, if you would like.
Not all of the claims against Cosby resulted in lawsuits - and some that didn't result in lawsuits resulted in Cosby making recurring payments to a claimant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.