There are crises, and there are crises.
Once-venerated comedian Bill Cosby has seen his spotless reputation evaporate in a matter of days with (now) 14 charges that he raped a number of women over the years.
(Update: The number of women now is 25.)
More women could come out of the woodwork in the future, which will fan the flames even more.
This crisis is even worse than the one Tiger Woods experienced a few years ago after it was revealed his cheated on his wife with a series of women over the years.
What Woods did was morally wrong. What Cosby is accused of were criminal acts.
So far Cosby has not handled the accusations very well. He is being crushed by the mainstream media and social media has been worse.
He did an interview on National Public Radio where he simply stopped talking when asked about the accusations. Host Scott Simon was taken aback by the tactic.
He rolled out his attorney after several days of silence, and the attorney basically said the dreaded “no comment.” A day later even the attorney began back-tracking on his remarks.
The latest bombshell is a woman who called Cosby a “serial rapist.” She claims he raped her on two different occasions.
Cosby fans were desperately hoping for more of an explanation so that they could come to his defense. So far only Whoopi Goldberg has made an attempt to defend her friend. The feminist icon shocked everyone by basically accusing one of the women who said Cosby raped her.
“Quite honestly, look, I’m sorry, having been on both sides of this where people allege that you do something — it doesn’t matter now,” said Goldberg on her “The View” talk show. “The cat is out of the bag, people have it in their head.I have a lot of questions for the lady, maybe she’ll come on.”
Cosby is being hung in the courtroom of public opinion and seems clueless on what to do.
Why? Because journalists have been worshipping him for years. They have literally written thousands of puff pieces about Cosby and are grateful when he allows them to interview him. This is the first time when he is being asked questions he didn’t script and it is a whole new world for him.
What can he do to recover?
If he is innocent then he should come out and declare his innocence. He should read a teary-eyed statement and admit he is not perfect, but the charges are false. He should apologize for cheating on his wife and hope people will forgive him.
The public loves a “heartfelt” apology (see Tiger Woods).
If he is guilty he should just shut up and wait until the public-which has the attention span of a gnat— moves on. He should cancel any public appearances and go into seclusion.
With no gas to feed the fire the public will move on.
COSBY CAUSED THE FUROR
Cosby did apologize, a few years ago, when, while he was burying his murdered son, a woman came forward with assault accusations. She was arrested, along with her boyfriend, accused of extortion. They went to jail, and Cosby apologized to his wife. In this case only those involved know the truth, and only one is correct.
Actually, none of this would have surfaced had not Cosby asked Facebook fans to create memes for him. That when the accusations came out of the online woodwork.
‘CLASSY’ TIGER WOODS?
Some of Woods’ behavior was criminal. Patronizing a prostitute is a crime in most of the United States.
Interestingly, one of the broads stupid enough to bop Woods for free asked him for a couple hundred dollars to get away from an abusive boyfriend. Although she and Woods had had a “relationship” for months, he refused to give her any money. A biographer of Woods says he doesn’t tip, anything, ever. Classy guy, that Tiger.
Cosby angered a lot of people, especially the professional left, when he went on tour a few years ago, trying to inspire and lift up the black community. I wonder how much of this bad publicity is their form of pay back.
‘LYNCH MOB’ SOCIETY
Dear Mr. Landsberg: Thank you for posting this item. I realize that this is a very old-fashioned notion, but is this still the United STates of America-the country where everyone deserves due process? Or are we now living in a “Lynch Mob Society” in which if accused of a crime the media decides your guilt or innoncence, and if they cannot get their way through media coverage they consciously try to incite race riots a la Ferguson to get their way? Bill Cosby may be guilty, Darrell Wilson may be guilty-but those are not questions to be settled by the media and by mobs in the street-these are questions for the judicial system. As for all of the people now calling for “swift justice” with “no legal niceties” in the Wilson and Cosby cases I want you to know that I have heard your type before: It was in my native South in the 1950′s and 1960′s-and the people who made these calls wore white robes and burned crosses. Al Sharpton and Nancy Grace: Meet your “Soulmate”: David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan. Take care. Sincerely, REspectfully and In Christ, Ernest Evans
FLAWED MEMORY?
Mike’s memory is a bit flawed.
The woman and boyfriend convicted of extortion were threatening to go public with the story that the woman was Cosby’s illegitimate (and secret) child.
Cosby acknowledged that he had had an affair with the woman’s mother and had been paying her (the mother) money for the child (and, presumably, the mother’s silence). There was no accusation of sexual assault in this story.
When everything became public, the woman tried to get Cosby to take a paternity test. He refused. After the woman and her boyfriend were convicted of extortion, Cosby did take a paternity test. He was not the father.
BTW - Everybody raves about the Cosby Show; I didn’t watch it. Forgotten is the old Bill Cosby Show. Now that show was very well written and very funny.
I don’t know if any of the assault allegations are true, but it seems strange that so many woman are coming forward now, none of whom went forward some 30 years ago when the alleged assaults occurred.