The wife of Bill Cosby, the American star of the small screen, came out of the shadows on Monday to attack the media for vilifying her “wonderful husband”, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women.
“The man I met and I fell in love with… is the man you know by his work. He is a good man, generous, funny, a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought he was, “said Camille Cosby, wife of the 77 year-old African American comedian who was once the father of America’s favorite TV family, known worldwide thanks to the cult sitcom “The Cosby Show” that aired in the 80s and 90s. They recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
“A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired”
Camille Cosby compared the media coverage of the Cosby case to that by Rolling Stone magazine of a gang rape at the University of Virginia, a recent article chock full of errors for which the cultural magazine subsequently apologized, noting that they should have taken the testimony of an alleged victim with a grain of salt. “This story was shocking but it has been proved false…nobody wants to be in the position to question a victim but the question is: who is the real victim here,” insisted Camille Cosby.
Most charges against Cosby, the oldest dating back to the 1960s, are subject to the statute of limitations and cannot be taken to court. Another woman, who accused Cosby of assaulting her when she was only 15 years in the notorious Playboy Mansion, filed charges in Los Angeles earlier this month. Her lawyers were able to work around legal limits because she was a minor at the time of the alleged crime.
Yet another stain on Cosby’s sterling reputation: former supermodel Beverly Johnson recently wrote in Vanity Fair magazine how Cosby drugged and tried to abuse her in the mid 80s.
Since the beginning of the scandal early November, Cosby has seen a new sitcom project cancelled by NBC, along with many of his stand-up comedy shows in the United States, and was removed from his seat on the board of the University of Pennsylvania, where he served for 32 years. Through the debacle, few celebrities have publicly supported him, including singer Jill Scott and actress Whoopi Goldberg.
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