1514 The Cosby Conflict

1514 The Cosby Conflict

The problem is not that he played a strict moral teacher on TV but secretly lured or drugged a bunch of young women into bed.  The problem is trying to describe the allegations against an apparent dirty old man while assigning part of the responsibility on some, but not all of the victims.

Here’s where we put in the obligatory CYA one liner: “Cosby was never charged with a crime.”

Okay, that probably covers the potentiality of a lawsuit. At least all of us who write about this think (hope?) so.

First and most important point, assuming the allegations are true.  Cosby should have kept his pants on.

But anyone who thinks the show business casting couch has been demolished, think again.  Not only hasn’t it, but it hasn’t even been stashed in the attic.

Using drugs (including booze) to get someone into bed is rape.  And if Cosby is proven to be a rapist, he should be held accountable at least for those that happened within the statute of limitation.

Generally, women have an easier time seducing men than vice versa. But seduction and rape aren’t the same.  And if someone makes a reservation on the casting couch and then pretends otherwise, there’s no case.

Trouble is, it’s hard to tell who had an appointment and who was a blindsided walk-in.

Is too much being made of this?  Is Cosby just a cad who traded on his fame and good-guy rep to bed some unsuspecting women?  Or is his whole public persona a charade to hide Satan’s personal representative to Hollywood, Philadelphia and New York?

If there was any hanky panky happening on the set of “The Cosby Show,” the usual gossipers at Kaufman Astoria Studios were awful quiet about it.

But, then, show business is the most gossip-laden, sex obsessed industry in America, so -- evidently -- many are cowed into silence.

Wish I’d Said That (with apologies to Jimmy Cannon):

Somehow, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and Bush the elder has become the party of secession talk, revolution talk and vigilantes harassing children on the Southern border, the party of the “war on whites,” “the war on Christmas,” tea parties and birthers, the party of anti-science, anti-history and fear that the U.S. military is, right this moment, preparing for the invasion of Texas. In a word, the party of crazy.

--Leonard Pitts in the Miami Herald

And this:

Aside from Mitch McConnell, the happiest person last November when McConnell won was Obama because he was freed from having to humor Harry Reid and Hill Democrats. -- Maureen Dowd in the New York Times.

Grapeshot:

-I credit Jimmy Cannon for the above title every time I use it because as far as I know, he was the first to say it in print.

Note To Readers and disclaimer: I did voice work for Lifetime Television at Kaufman Astoria Studios at about the same time as “Cosby” was filmed there.  I heard plenty.  But not about Bill.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR 2015