Bill Cosby

'Cosby' is now a synonym for sexual assault

Tony Thompson,

(image via Mike Luckovich)

With the number of women alleging he sexually assaulted them surpassing 20, I’m beginning to wonder how many more women were victimized by Bill Cosby. How many other women kept silent for years or decades? How many other women felt like no one would believe them and chose to sit on their pain? How many other women felt like this man could help further their career only to be violated by him? How many more women did he ply with alcohol and pills so that he could assault them?
I also wonder how many other Hollywood stars have abused their power and sexually assaulted others.  If Bill Cosby was able to escape justice for decades, who else has?  How many serial rapists are there in Hollywood?

'Cosby' is now a synonym for sexual assault
{advertisement}

New sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby

Tony Thompson, ,

The number of women who have come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Bill Cosby has risen by one (the number now sits at 19–for how long I wonder [I’ve added additional information to the end of this post bc I’ve found even more allegations]). And this time there is a lawsuit. Judy Huth has filed a lawsuit alleging that the comedian sexually assaulted her when she was 15 years old.

According to TMZ, Huth and a 16-year-old friend originally met Cosby in 1974 on a film set, then joined him at his tennis club a week later. There, they played pool and each time Cosby won a game Huth allegedly was required to drink a beer, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cosby and the two girls then allegedly went to the Playboy Mansion where Cosby told them to lie about their ages. After Huth used the bathroom, Cosby told her to sit beside him on a bed, KFI reported.

“He then proceeded to sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent,” the lawsuit states.  In the lawsuit, Huth argues that she suffered “psychological damage and mental anguish” as a result of the encounter.

Looking at the various allegations against him, a pattern becomes apparent.  Bill Cosby plied most of his victims with alcohol or some other drug (sometimes a combination of the two) and then sexually assaulted them. Just like the other women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault, his lawyers deny the claims:

In court documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday, the actor’s legal team asked the judge to dismiss the case, claiming Huth only filed her lawsuit after failed attempts at extortion.

One of Cosby’s attorney’s, Marty Singer, said in court documents that Huth’s lawyer had admitted to him in a phone conversation that, in exchange for a “substantial payment” from the actor, Huth “would not pursue criminal charges or civil claims or disclose her story to the media.”

Oooh, cue some nefarious music!

Cosby hurt Huth. She is seeking remuneration for the pain and suffering he inflicted upon her, and initially tried to do so outside the courtroom.  When that failed, she decided to pursue criminal charges against Cosby.   Why is that considered extortion?

Extortion (also called shakedown, outwresting, and exaction) is a criminal offense of obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crimegroups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers not only to extortion or the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force, but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant

Now, I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that extortion involves an attempt by an individual(s) to acquire money, property, or services that does belong to that individual(s).  To my eyes,  Huth has sufficient cause to seek redress from Bill Cosby–he sexually assaulted her. The fact that she threatened to sue him if he didn’t pay her any money does not make her an extortionist, bc he owes her-at the very least-some type of compensation. In fact, by calling her actions extortion, Singer not-too-subtly calls into question her story. He’s trying to re-frame her as someone out to get money through any means possible (i.e. extortion), rather than a victim looking for compensation from her attacker. I guess in his eyes Huth is a liar who wants money and fame, while Bill Cosby is a innocent man being attacked. Me, I see Bill Cosby as a serial rapist who assaulted multiple women over a period of 40 years and only now, with all these women speaking up, is he starting to face any kind of punishment (though sadly, not the kind of punishment he deserves–by that I mean jail time). Cosby is lucky that more of his victims haven’t sought legal action against him.  I’ve no idea how successful Judy Huth will be in her suit against Cosby, but I’m crossing my fingers for her.

In another story related to the accusations leveled against Bill Cosby—the 77 year old comedian has had his honorary Naval title revoked:

The Navy is revoking Bill Cosby’s title of honorary chief petty officer, saying allegations of sexual abuse made against the comedian are serious and conflict with the Navy’s core values.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Stevens made the announcement Thursday in a statement.

Cosby enlisted in the Navy in 1956 and served four years as a hospital corpsman before being honorably discharged in 1960 as a 3rd Class Petty Officer. The honorary title was presented to Cosby in 2011.

Edit:  The allegations continue to come in. No sooner did I hit submit on this post than I heard of three more women who have come forward with allegations against Bill Cosby.

Three women who say they were sexually molested by comedian Bill Cosby have appeared at a press conference in Los Angeles, where each tearfully recounted the alleged assaults.

The event on Wednesday afternoon was organised by lawyer Gloria Allred, a long-time women’s rights advocate, who told reporters the women were just three of many who had contacted her with similar claims about Mr Cosby. “I have literally lost count,” she said.

Two of the women had never made the allegations publicly before. The third, Beth Ferrier, was one of several prepared to testify against the comedian in a 2005 lawsuit accusing Mr Cosby of a sexual assault at his Pennsylvania home. Mr Cosby, now 77, settled that lawsuit out of court. The women were never called to testify, and the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Both Ms Ferrier and one of the other women at the press conference, who gave her name only as “Chelan”, claimed to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by Mr Cosby. The third, Helen Hayes, alleged that she had been groped by the comedian at a celebrity tennis tournament in 1973.

Chelan claimed she was 17 at the time of her alleged assault, and working at a Las Vegas hotel. Mr Cosby allegedly called her to his room, saying that he wanted to introduce her to a modelling agent. Instead, she claimed, he drugged and raped her. He finally woke her, hours later, by clapping and telling her: “Daddy says wake up,” she said.

God damn, but Cosby is a scumbag.

New sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby: 19 accusations and counting

Tony Thompson, 1 Comment

I have no problem saying this:  Bill Cosby is a serial rapist.  I have no problem saying this because rape happens.  A lot.

(and those are just the reported incidents of sexual assault)

It doesn’t matter that Bill Cosby played the charming, charismatic Cliff Huxtable.

It doesn’t matter that he’s the creator of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

It doesn’t matter that he’s a beloved comedian.

It doesn’t matter that he’s a celebrity.

What matters is that women have accused Bill Cosby of raping them and I’m not going to disbelieve them simply because Cosby is a celebrity who I watched on television growing up. I’m not going to disbelieve these women because there’s a public image of Cosby as a warm, affable, kind person. To me, Bill Cosby is a stranger (and he’s a stranger to millions upon millions of other people too). I don’t know him (nor do millions upon millions of other people). To be honest, even if I did, there’s no way I could reasonably say “no way! He didn’t do this” bc people of all backgrounds engage in non-consensual sex.

Celebrities.

Politicians.

Doctors.

Lawyers.

Dentists.

Teachers.

Firefighters.

Custodians.

Frat boys.

Bartenders.

Military personnel.

White, Asian, Black, Hispanic people.

Heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual people.

The list goes on.

There is no demographic, no occupation, no social status that one can belong to or possess that places them in the category “cannot be a rapist”. Combine that with the fact that rapes happen all too often, and I see no reason to disbelieve the women who have accused Bill Cosby of rape (interestingly, I haven’t seen him state, unequivocally that he did not rape any of those women; of course, even if he had said that…he could be lying).

“But! But!! But!!!” you might say.

“What about false reports of sexual assault?” you might say.

To that I would say “estimates for the percentage of false reports begin to converge around 2-8%” (source). That tells me that out of 100 reports of sexual assault, less than 10% are false claims (and that doesn’t mean the accuser is lying either).  That tells me that the vast majority of accusers are being truthful.  That provides me sufficient justification for believing the women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them.

Speaking of those women, that number has increased once again.

It now sits at 19.

The list of women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assaulting them includes Angela Leslie, Andrea Constand, Barbara Bowman, Beth Ferrier, Janice Dickinson, Joan Tarshis, Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Carla Ferrigno, Louisa Moritz, Angela Leslie, and Linda Joy Traitz.

We can add Michelle Hurd, Renita Chaney Hill, Victoria Valentino, Joyce Emmons, Kristina Ruehli, Jewel Allison, and Jena T. to that list.

There is also an unnamed woman mentioned in this Salon article, who may or may not be one of the above 19.

This should be damning.  For 19+ people to accuse Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting them…that should mean something.  And I think, finally, it is beginning to.  He was set to perform at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and the Diamond Desert Casino in Arizona.  Both casinos have cancelled upcoming shows by the 77-year old comedian. His January show at Foxwoods Resort Casino has also been cancelled. All of that is in addition to the cancellation of Cosby’s planned NBC sitcom, TV Land pulling repeats of “The Cosby Show”, and Netflix postponing a planned Thanksgiving special (though notably, they did not cancel the special).

Bill Cosby has sexually assaulted multiple women over the last 40 years and gotten away with it. It’s high time he was made to pay in some way for his assaults.  I doubt he’ll ever see the inside of a courtroom over the allegations, so I’m heartened by the backlash he’s receiving.

Note: Having just read about another new allegation against Bill Cosby, I double checked this post and realized I listed Angela Leslie twice, which means the title of this post should be ‘Bill Cosby: 18 accusations and counting’.  I could have edited the post to reflect this, but I figured I’d own my mistake publicly.

Bill Cosby: 19 accusations and counting

Bill Cosby’s troubles continue

Tony Thompson, ,

Actress Angela Leslie has accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault:

Actress Angela Leslie, 52, said she was meeting Cosby in his Las Vegas suite in 1992 to discuss acting opportunities when he sexually assaulted her.

Leslie, who was 26 at the time, said she and Cosby were in the kitchen area of his Elvis Presley suite when Cosby asked her to act intoxicated as an acting exercise, and she complied. She said it was at this point he assaulted her.

Linda Joy Traitz accuses Bill Cosby of sexual assault:

Linda Joy Traitz claims Cosby tried to drug and assault her more than 40 years ago. Traitz came forward with her allegations in the last few days. In a Facebook post, she claims, “He drove out to the beach and opened a briefcase filled with assorted drugs and kept offering me pills.”

(The second link is to TMZ, which attempts to poison the well by mentioning Traitz’s history of drug abuse as well as her time in prison for fraud)

I wonder how many other women out there have been sexually assaulted by this shitstain. He’s been doing this for decades and many of his victims were afraid to speak up.  How many lives did he tear apart? How many victims tried to push on with their lives but failed? And yet he won’t even give a fucking response to them. It pisses me off to no end that bc he’s soooo popular, soooo well-loved, that he’s escaped justice.  It pisses me off even more when I hear his apologists dismiss the women who have come forward. To believe Cosby requires one to believe that 15 women, none of whom stand to gain anything, are lying. They’re just trying to tell their stories. They want it known what Cosby did to them. I imagine they hope that this will prevent him from victimizing more women. Those that play the Vulcan “let’s be rational about this and wait until all the information is in before we judge Cosby” ramp that anger up even further. We have enough information to make a tentative judgement in this case. Multiple women have spoken up, and the details surrounding their assaults are strikingly similar. Plus this isn’t a court of law. Here in the civilian world, we aren’t held to the high standards of the courtroom. Why? In the courtroom, life/death and freedom/imprisonment are determined. The standards must be higher so as to ensure as fair a trial as possible. Outside the courtroom though? Show of hands who in the public has the power to sentence Bill Cosby to death? Who has the power to imprison him for the rest of his life?

None of us has that power.  Such power is in the hands of the justice system. Of which we civilians are not part of. So if you feel that Cosby is guilty, but are worried about the presumption of innocence, worry no longer.  That presumption is for the courts. Not for the public.

Bill Cosby’s troubles continue

Bill Cosby's troubles continue

Tony Thompson, ,

Actress Angela Leslie has accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault:

Actress Angela Leslie, 52, said she was meeting Cosby in his Las Vegas suite in 1992 to discuss acting opportunities when he sexually assaulted her.

Leslie, who was 26 at the time, said she and Cosby were in the kitchen area of his Elvis Presley suite when Cosby asked her to act intoxicated as an acting exercise, and she complied. She said it was at this point he assaulted her.

Linda Joy Traitz accuses Bill Cosby of sexual assault:

Linda Joy Traitz claims Cosby tried to drug and assault her more than 40 years ago. Traitz came forward with her allegations in the last few days. In a Facebook post, she claims, “He drove out to the beach and opened a briefcase filled with assorted drugs and kept offering me pills.”

(The second link is to TMZ, which attempts to poison the well by mentioning Traitz’s history of drug abuse as well as her time in prison for fraud)

I wonder how many other women out there have been sexually assaulted by this shitstain. He’s been doing this for decades and many of his victims were afraid to speak up.  How many lives did he tear apart? How many victims tried to push on with their lives but failed? And yet he won’t even give a fucking response to them. It pisses me off to no end that bc he’s soooo popular, soooo well-loved, that he’s escaped justice.  It pisses me off even more when I hear his apologists dismiss the women who have come forward. To believe Cosby requires one to believe that 15 women, none of whom stand to gain anything, are lying. They’re just trying to tell their stories. They want it known what Cosby did to them. I imagine they hope that this will prevent him from victimizing more women. Those that play the Vulcan “let’s be rational about this and wait until all the information is in before we judge Cosby” ramp that anger up even further. We have enough information to make a tentative judgement in this case. Multiple women have spoken up, and the details surrounding their assaults are strikingly similar. Plus this isn’t a court of law. Here in the civilian world, we aren’t held to the high standards of the courtroom. Why? In the courtroom, life/death and freedom/imprisonment are determined. The standards must be higher so as to ensure as fair a trial as possible. Outside the courtroom though? Show of hands who in the public has the power to sentence Bill Cosby to death? Who has the power to imprison him for the rest of his life?

None of us has that power.  Such power is in the hands of the justice system. Of which we civilians are not part of. So if you feel that Cosby is guilty, but are worried about the presumption of innocence, worry no longer.  That presumption is for the courts. Not for the public.

Bill Cosby's troubles continue

Two more women step forward with allegations against Bill Cosby

Tony Thompson, ,

Trigger Warning: this post discusses rape and sexual assault

Andrea Constand-drugged and raped by Cosby in 2004.

Tamara Green-drugged and raped by Cosby in the 70s.

Beth Ferrier-drugged and possibly raped by Cosby in the 80s.

Barbara Bowman– drugged and raped by Cosby in the mid-80s.

Joan Tarshis– drugged and raped by Cosby in 1969.    

Janice Dickinson– drugged and raped by Cosby in 1982.

These are 6 of the 15 women who have publicly accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault or rape.  As of today, two more names can be added to that list:  Therese Serignese and Carla Ferrigno (in the case of Ferrigno, Bill Cosby tried-but failed-to sexually assault her).

Therese Serignese, of Boca Raton, Florida, says in a new interview that when she was just 19-years-old Cosby gave her some pills after a show in Las Vegas, and she later came to and found the actor having sex with her.

This as Carla Ferrigno, wife of Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno, has revealed that Cosby tried to sexually assault her at a party when she was just a teenager.

Serginese met Cosby in 1976 before he was set to perform a standup set at the Hilton in Las Vegas.

Cosby offered the teenager a ticket, and later invited her to the afterparty.

Then, he offered her some pills.

‘I took them, didn’t know what they were didn’t even ask. I just was intimidated I guess and I took them,’ Serignese told WPTV.

‘Then my next memory is feeling drugged and him having sex with me.’

Despite this, she ended up staying with Cosby, living in his penthouse for weeks, but eventually she moved out and later married.

She did however take up Cosby on his promise to pay her $500 if she went to school and earned good grades.

After attending nursing school, and doing well, she got word to go down to Western Union.

In the end, she got $10,000 from Cosby.

That did not change what happened however, and Serginese was one of the woman who came forward after another woman publicly detailed what happened to her, claiming that she too was drugged and raped by Cosby

That is when Serignese became Jane Doe 10 in the civil suit brought against Cosby by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who claimed he had drugged and sexually assaulted her in his Philadelphia-area mansion two years earlier.

In the end 13 woman would come forward to make similar claims in the trial, though the statue of limitations had run out on their own cases.

That case was eventually settled out of court.

Now, Serignese has a message for Cosby.

‘I’m gonna say to Bill Cosby. You do owe me an explanation for why you did this to me,’ she says.

‘I want an apology. I want you to apologize for hurting me. I want you to apologize for taking advantage of me.’

You do deserve an apology (and so do all the women he assaulted) but I don’t think one is forthcoming. Cosby won’t even respond to questions about any of the allegations surrounding him…hell, he won’t even comment any further on them.

Meanwhile, Carla Ferrigno has become the most recent woman to claim that she was almost sexually assaulted by the star, saying the event happened at a party in 1967.

In an interview on the John and Ken Show, Carla says Cosby lunged at her and forcefully kissed her at a party when she was just a teenager – and his wife was home.

Speaking with MailOnline after the interview, she said, ‘I feel so bad for these women. I was the lucky one.’

She added, ‘I mean “lucky” in that he didn’t harm me. It harmed me emotionally all my life but he didn’t physically harm me.’

I hope the media keeps up the pressure. He may have escaped the justice system, but not the judgement of the public.

* * * *

You can read an interview with Therese Serignese here and follow the timeline of abuse charges surrounding Bill Cosby here.

* * * *

Edit:

Right after I hit submit on this post, I discovered that another woman has come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Cosby.  Actress Louisa Moritz says that in 1971 Cosby forced her to perform fellatio on him in her dressing room prior to her appearance on The Tonight Show.

Two more women step forward with allegations against Bill Cosby

Awww, poor Bill Cosby…

Tony Thompson, , , , 3 Comments

…Not.

Trigger Warning:  Discussion of rape and sexual assault

Yesterday, I wrote about the rape allegations that surround comedian Bill Cosby.  Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Janice Dickinson are the latest women to come forward accusing Cosby of sexual assault. That makes 15 women to publicly accuse Cosby of sexual assault  (many of the women have similar stories–that Cosby plied them with alcohol, drugged them, and sexually assaulted them).  In that post, I lamented the fact that Cosby won’t be punished for his actions (hell, he won’t even see the inside of a courtroom over the allegations), and that he’s essentially gotten away scot free.  I was hoping that his Netflix deal and/or his planned NBC sitcom would be cancelled.  Not that either would bring any justice to his victims, but I’d love for the man to be shunned by Hollywood. If he can’t be brought to justice, then he can be made to suffer by being ostracized by the entertainment industry.

Lo and behold, a day later and my prayers were answered. Clearly the Flying Spaghetti Monster heard my fervent prayers and made my wishes come true.  Bill Cosby’s NBC show is no longer in development:

NBC has confirmed to HuffPost Entertainment that a planned sitcom project with Bill Cosby is no longer in development. The network had no further comment on the matter. A representative for Cosby was not immediately available for comment.

But that’s not all.  His stand-up Netflix special has been postponed as well:

Netflix says it is postponing Bill Cosby’s upcoming standup comedy special.

A spokesperson for the company says it is postponing the launch of “Bill Cosby 77.” This follows accusations that Cosby has sexually assaulted several women.

But wait.  There’s more.  TV Land will no longer air repeats of ‘The Cosby Show’:

NBC has scrapped a Bill Cosby comedy that was under development and TV Land will stop airing reruns of “The Cosby Show,” moves that came a day after another woman came forward claiming that the once-beloved comic had sexually assaulted her.

NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said Wednesday the Cosby sitcom “is no longer under development.” A TV Land spokesperson said the shows will stop airing immediately for an indefinite time. “The Cosby Show” also was to have been part of a Thanksgiving sitcom marathon.

Good.  More shunning. More ostracizing.  If he can’t be punished, let his ass fade into obscurity.

Awww, poor Bill Cosby…

There will be no further statement

Tony Thompson, , , 2 Comments

Trigger Warning: discussion of rape and sexual assault

In 2005 Andrea Constand brought a lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby alleging that he drugged and sexually assaulted her. 12 other women with similar stories of sexual assault agreed to testify if that case made it to trial. Cosby settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, ensuring that none of those 13 women had a chance to testify against him. He probably thought that was the end of the allegations of rape.

He was wrong.

In October, comedian Hannibal Buress referred to Cosby as a rapist during one of his stand-up acts.

“It’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the fuckin’ smuggest old black man persona that I hate,” Buress said. “He gets on TV, ‘Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the 80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!’ Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches.”

“I guess I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch Cosby Show reruns,” Buress says later. “I’ve done this bit on stage and people think I’m making it up…. when you leave here, google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ That shit has more results than ‘Hannibal Buress.'”

In the wake of Buress’s comments, there has been a public outcry against the 77-year old comedian. His appearance on The Queen Latifah show was cancelled (according to TMZ; although a spokesman for the show said that Cosby simply postponed the appearance). In addition, a PR move by Cosby’s social media team completely backfired. “Go ahead. Meme me.” said Cosby’s Twitter account.  Ok, said the world.  The results were not what they expected:

Thanks in part to Buress speaking up, Barbara Bowman chose to talk publicly about how Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her.  In an interview with the Mail Online, she says:

‘I was drugged and raped by that man,’ she tells MailOnline. ‘He is a monster. He came at me like a monster. My hope is that others who have experienced sexual abuse will not be intimidated into silence by the famous, rich and powerful. If I can help one victim, then I’ve done my job.’

[…]

‘I’m finally revealing all of my full story in hopes that others will learn to read the tell-tale signs of abuse and not wait as long as I did. No one believed me for years. They said Bill would never do that. That it was preposterous. But I’m putting my name out there and standing behind these words, just like Burress. No more code of silence.’

Now, 25 years after the multiple incidents of drugging, sexual assault, and even rape at the hands of the now 77-year-old Cosby, Barbara said: ‘I’ve been silent too long. It’s time to raise a fuss. I’m a real person that this happened to. And it’s taken decades to get over what he did to me.

‘I thank Hannibal Burress for speaking out over and over again, despite the threats from the Industry that it could ruin his career. He is standing up for me and the other women who are too afraid to speak out.

I appreciate the fact that Buress spoke up about the rape allegations surrounding Bill Cosby. Not enough men speak up about sexual assault, and all too often people dismiss women when they raise rape or sexual assault allegations.  Bowman goes on to say:

‘And the timing couldn’t be better. It sickens me to think he’ll be on TV again, playing a father, no less.’

Barbara’s fear is that her perpetrator will actually hit the NBC airwaves again, as soon as next summer in a new sitcom, playing a patriarchal father figure, just like he played the quintessential family man Dr Cliff Huxtable on The Bill Cosby Show in the 1980s.

‘Maybe he should also teach his fictitious TV family how to escape the talons of sexual predators. Bill used to tell me that he was my father figure and that I needed to trust him as a father, 100 percent. Then he’d drug me and attack me. I was to afraid to talk back.

‘He told me over and over again, “Trust me like I was your father.” He zeroed in on that like a laser beam.’

While other victims were allegedly given hush money to prevent them from going public with their accusations, and another settled after filing a court case against Cosby, Barbara is free to speak out.

‘I never took shut up money. My motivation to speak now is to expose Bill Cosby as the animal that he is. He went after me in that hotel room like an animal with such sexual prowess and force that he couldn’t control himself. And at 19-years-old, I knew it would be the last time he would ever get the chance to hurt me this way again.’

Note her motives here.  Not to gain notoriety. Not to get rich. Not to take him to court (she couldn’t even if she wanted to, as the statute of limitations has long since expired).  She’s speaking up to warn people. Not that Cosby supporters, MRAs, and Rape Culture enablers will pay heed to her stated motives. I recommend reading the rest of Bowman’s story.  Also worth reading is her column at The Washington Post, where she expresses frustration at the lack of public outcry over her allegations, or those of the other women who have come forward, all of whom have told their stories over the last decade.  She notes that it took Buress’s comments to make the media and public begin to question Bill Cosby (apparently more than a dozen allegations from different women are meaningless in the eyes of the public; bitches be lying, amirite?)

Following Bowman’s interview and Buress’s comments, another woman has come forward with allegations of sexual assault. On Monday, Joan Tarshis gave an interview to CNN’s Don Lemon.  In the interview, Tarshis tells Lemon that she was raped by Bill Cosby twice when she was 19 (she also gives further details about why she stayed silent for so long in an interview with the Philadelphia Magazine):

She described her initial meetings with Cosby and what led up to the first time she claims he drugged and raped her:

“We went up to his bungalow. He made me a drink and very shortly after that I just passed out. I woke up or came t very groggily, with him removing my underwear.”

She told Lemon how she tried to lie to Cosby about having an STD to try and get him to stop.

“I said if you have sex with me, your wife is going to know it because you probably will infect her. I thought I was very clever in saying that but he was more clever. And instead he made me have oral sex with him, which was really just horrible.”

Lemon asked her why she never went to the police with her accusations. Tarshis said she was hesitant because no one else had come forward with a similar story and feared no one would believe her story of being sexually assaulted by such a famous man.

“I didn’t know his history. I assumed I was not the only girl that he was doing this with. But who’s going to believe me…who would believe me? They’d probably think I was out to get something.”

She said, in the end, her emotions won out, and she kept silent for 20 years.

“I felt a lot of shame, I felt a lot of guilt. I felt a lot of ‘shoulds.’ I should have known there was something wrong with this man. I should have felt something was off with him. And I was angry at myself that I didn’t and blamed myself.”

I’m sorry she had to go through that.  Being raped is horrible enough. Then sitting on that for decades, afraid to share such a traumatic experience just compounds the awfulness of the situation.  Fuck you Bill Cosby.  Fuck you for raping all these women.  Fuck you even more for refusing to even comment on the allegations.  In a recent interview with Scott Simon at NPR, Cosby simply shook his head when asked about the sexual assault allegations surrounding him:

SCOTT SIMON: “This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days.”

BILL COSBY: [SILENCE]

SIMON: “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?”

COSBY: [SILENCE]

SIMON: “Shaking your head no. There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance.”

COSBY: [SILENCE]

Crickets chirping. I don’t know what’s going through the man’s mind, but somehow I don’t think he’s feeling guilty for what he’s done.  He won’t even acknowledge the allegations. He won’t dignify his victims with a response.  To compound this, his lawyer recently released this steaming pile of crap:

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.

– John P. Schmitt, lawyer for Bill Cosby

No further statement?!

Yeah, just crawl back into the celebrity world Mr. Cosby, with all the comfort and security that world offers and don’t pay any attention to the women who’s bodily autonomy you violated. They clearly still don’t matter to you. That you won’t even respond to your victims shows you still don’t view them as human beings with rights.  It shows a complete disregard for the harm you caused them.  And it really fucking sucks that you’ve gotten away with it.  You still have your fame and success, while these women have to live the rest of their lives traumatized by what you did to them.  I hope your career tanks and you fade into obscurity. I know it’s not likely, but that would be the closest thing to punishment that you’re likely to ever face.

There will be no further statement