Bill Cosby Refuses to Answer Questions About Rape Allegations

Comedian and actor Bill Cosby has been under fire lately over allegations that he sexually assaulted several women years ago.

NPR broadcast an interview with Cosby and his wife Camille yesterday on “Weekend Edition Saturday" in which host Scott Simon asked Cosby about the rape allegations (audio below).

“This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days,” asked Simon, noted Mediaite.com.

Moments later, Simon stated, “You’re shaking your head 'no.' I’m in the news business. I have to ask the question. Do you have any response to those charges?”

“There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this,” added Simon. “I want to give you the chance.”


Cosby still refused to answer.

When Simon ended the interview, Camille said “thank you," but her husband did not speak.

Cosby was scheduled to appear on "The Late Show" this Wednesday, but his appearance was canceled, although it's not clear if he pulled out of the show or if the show axed the segment.

“We can’t comment on the booking process,” Kim Izzo-Emmet, a spokeswoman for the "The Late Show," told The New York Times on Friday.

Cosby's appearance on the Queen Latifah talk show was recently canceled as well.

A woman named Barbara Bowman recently came forward and accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in the 1980s while he was starring on “The Cosby Show.”

There have been 13 other women who have made similar claims. One of the women, Andrea Constand, sued Cosby in 2005 and settled for an undisclosed amount in 2006.

Cosby's lawyer John P. Schmitt recently stated on BillCosby.com:


"Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives."

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/cele...answer-questions-about-rape-allegations-audio

I would hope it wouldn't be true but like Michael Jackson's case of molesting children and seeing one case come out, and another, and another -and the families settled outside of court - even his sister LaToya had to ask if you're innocent, why are paying anyone off?

It's the same thing here too sadly. I love Bill Cosby, I'd hate to believe anything bad about the man but where there's smoke, there's fire. I think he's not speaking of it because he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Laura

Florida woman latest to accuse Cosby of forced sex

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - A Florida woman who came forward Thursday became the fourth in recent weeks to say Bill Cosby gave her pills that made her feel groggy then forced himself on her sexually.

Therese Serignese, now 57 and a nurse in Boca Raton, said the television icon raped her in 1976 when she was 19 years old following a show in Las Vegas. She said she went backstage and when the two were alone, Cosby gave her two pills and a glass of water, saying, "Take these."

"My next memory is clearly feeling drugged, being without my clothes, standing up," she said. "Bill Cosby was behind me, having sex with me."

Cosby spokesman David Brokaw did not respond to a request for comment. Cosby's lawyer, in a statement released Sunday, criticized previous "decade-old, discredited allegations," stating that "the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."

Dozens of Cosby's television and comedy colleagues have either refused to comment or not returned telephone calls from the AP in recent days.

The allegations by Serignese and three others are similar:

- Barbara Bowman, an aspiring actress, said in a Nov. 13 Washington Post column that she was 17 and blacked out after Cosby drugged her, waking up to find herself in panties and a man's t-shirt with the television icon looming over her. She said she was certain she was raped.

- Joan Tarshis on Monday said she was 19-year-old who wanted to be a comedy writer when Cosby gave her a drink and forced her to perform oral sex on him.


Joan Tarshis on Monday said she was 19-year-old who wanted to be a comedy writer when Cosby gave her a drink and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

- Janice Dickinson on Tuesday told "Entertainment Tonight" that Cosby had given her red wine and a pill when they were together in a Lake Tahoe, California, hotel room in 1982. Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, said in a letter to the AP that Dickinson's charges were "false and outlandish."

In addition, Tamara Green wrote an opinion piece Wednesday for "Entertainment Tonight." In 2005, Green publicly claimed that she was drugged and Cosby attempted to assault her; Cosby's lawyers have previously denied they knew each other.

Serignese says after the alleged rape, she willingly stayed with Cosby in Las Vegas for some time, but could not specify how long or whether the two had sex again during their time together. The two also maintained sporadic contact for years after the alleged rape.

The 77-year-old television star's attempt at a career comeback has been collapsing in recent days as the abuse allegations resurfaced. This week Netflix said it was postponing a comedy special it had planned with Cosby to air later this month; NBC said it was stopping development of a sitcom with him and TV Land pulled reruns of "The Cosby Show" off the air.

Serignese said she filed a statement with Philadelphia police in January 2005 detailing her allegations and provided a copy of that statement to The Associated Press. The AP could not confirm Thursday that a report had been filed with the Philadelphia police department. She had agreed to testify on behalf of Andrea Constand, a Pennsylvania woman who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Cosby and settled before the case when to trial.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Serignese said she was standing in a Hilton gift shop when she felt someone approach her, put his arm around her and say, "Will you marry me?" When she turned around, it was Cosby. She said they had a friendly conversation and he invited her to the show.

Afterward, she said she was escorted to the green room, where she said the rape took place.

Serignese said she returned to the hotel sometime after the rape and stayed with Cosby for numerous nights, though she said she couldn't remember precisely when or for how long. She said she also cannot remember if they had sex again, but recalled other details, including an expansive penthouse suite with a sunken living room, pinball machine and Miles Davis records littered on the floor.

Serignese said she returned to the hotel sometime after the rape and stayed with Cosby for numerous nights, though she said she couldn't remember precisely when or for how long. She said she also cannot remember if they had sex again, but recalled other details, including an expansive penthouse suite with a sunken living room, pinball machine and Miles Davis records littered on the floor. She said she eventually thought she might be pregnant and Cosby told her to leave.

Several years later around 1980 or 1981, she said, Cosby invited her to Lake Tahoe, saying he wanted to give her Louis Vuitton luggage, but she declined. Years after that, she said, she reached out to him when he was performing in the Detroit area, where she said she went to his hotel room after the show. She said he had encouraged her to go back to school and could not remember whether the two had sex.

Her last contact with Cosby, she said, was in 1996. She had been badly hurt in a car accident and moved to Florida to live with a sister who reached out to the comedian seeking financial support. He asked to speak with Serignese, she said, and yelled at her, asking why she was calling him after so many years.

Serignese said Cosby sent her $10,000 via Western Union. A couple days later, she said she received a second payment of $5,000 from his management company, the William Morris Agency. She provided a letter from the management company signed by William Morris agent Tom Illius who represented Bill Cosby at the time. Illius died in 2011.

She said Constand's attorneys agreed to represent her but she decided not to sue. An attorney involved in the civil case could not comment because of the settlement's confidentiality clause.

"There's no DNA. There's no evidence. There was no cameras. There's no videotaping back then. There's no proof," she said. "It's just my word against Bill Cosby."

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/27444624/florida-woman-latest-to-accuse-cosby-of-forced-sex

This story just gets stranger and stranger with each woman that comes forward. Has anyone else noticed that the victims are all white? I'm baffled by those that he told to "take this drink" or "take this pill" and they do without hesitation. Does no one think? I'd never drink anything on a man's order and I certainly wouldn't take pills either. How odd...that some complied so easily.....

One of my friends on FB announced on that one of her friends was one of his victims and hasn't gone to the media. I told my friend why announce it on FB if it doesn't involve her and what was the point of it? Like Lau said, the story gets stranger.

It's like Michael Jackson all over again unfortunately.

pathetic!!

I'm tell you he monster but he never tell truth in spotlight!! But rape victims wanted spit out for truth!! But he should in jail! His attorney says kept privately matters!!

Lau2046 said:

This story just gets stranger and stranger with each woman that comes forward. Has anyone else noticed that the victims are all white? I'm baffled by those that he told to "take this drink" or "take this pill" and they do without hesitation. Does no one think? I'd never drink anything on a man's order and I certainly wouldn't take pills either. How odd...that some complied so easily.....

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One of the women (not reported in this thread) had claimed she had a headache when he offered her the pills and a glass of water.

More and more women are coming forward....even Cosby's aide (who was a male and now 90 years old)...coming forward.....

So...yes, I believe these accusations....but at Cosby's age and the time limit to report someone raping you since this happened too many years ago...is nil....

Sort of rings true...Karma is a bitch...and as my grandfather lectured to me many, many years ago...."If you do something that is wrong...and you know it's wrong....but do it anyway.....it will come back on you one day....ten times fold.".....

Me just thinks Cosby's Goose is Fully Cooked!

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All About Bill Cosby's Accusers – and the Fall of a TV Icon
http://www.people.com/article/bill-cosby-rape-accusers-scandal

'You didn't say no to him': Bill Cosby lands THREE weekly magazine covers as new light is shed on icon at center of massive rape scandal
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...ht-shed-icon-center-massive-rape-scandal.html

Great comedian, however, maybe less than a great and honorable human being. Power and money have a tendency to corrupt and Bill has a lot of it.

I feel sorry for his castmates and his children...this has got to be difficult to reconcile with.

Lau2046 said:

I feel sorry for his castmates and his children...this has got to be difficult to reconcile with.

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Me too. I also feel bad for them bc The Cosby Show got pulled from the network...they may have been getting royalties from that, too. That's not fair to them

it happening everywhere at last women taken seriously...if they come forward back in the day their lives be misery cops would done nothing.bringing colour of victims up using race card harsh thing to say it negates both issues