Bill Cosby’s world has been turned upside down, with 20 women now coming forward and claiming the legendary comedian sexually assaulted them.
Cosby is one of America’s favorite television dads. Week after week for more than a decade, “The Cosby Show” conquered television; Cosby taught children and adults life lessons and became a role model to many.
Not only did Cosby become a good role model on television, but he also maintained a good reputation off-camera. He has been married for more than 50 years and is the father of five kids.
However, Cosby’s once-spotless reputation was ruined in a month. Cosby’s character has been questioned and makes many wonder what else he is hiding.
Hotel and restaurant management freshman Jahred Bruno expressed his concern about the legitimacy of the allegations, saying that rape is a serious accusation.
“It is Bill Cosby, which makes you not want to believe it, and the stories are so old. Like, why now?” Bruno said. “It’s just a bad situation for him and those women to be in. You just have to kind of wait and see how this all goes.”
Some of the allegations are over 30 years old, which makes many wonder why the women waited so long to come forward. It seems peculiar that these women would wait decades to come forward and take action against Cosby.
Supermodel Janice Dickinson is one of the women who has come forward about being sexual assaulted by Cosby. Dickinson kept her story a secret for 32 years, claiming the incident drove her to an emotionally unstable life.
She told her story to “Entertainment Tonight,” explaining why she wanted to tell her story after so many years.
“I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do, and it happened to me and this is the true story,” Dickinson said. “I believe all the other women.”
More women are continuing to come forward and open up about them allegedly being sexually assaulted by Cosby. All of the victims are claiming to have been too scared to report Cosby, so now decades later they are finding strength in numbers and are finally coming forward.
According to Vulture Magazine, in 2005 a woman named Andrea Constand came forward and filed a lawsuit against Bill Cosby for “inappropriate touching.” The lawsuit lacked evidence and was soon dropped after being filed.
“Bill Cosby is well-known, so them bringing up the allegations after so long makes it look suspicious,” Bruno said. “Like they are trying to gain something … if you were scared, then what makes you less fearful now?”
One of the allegations is 39 years old, which makes many question the story’s validity. However, all of the stories are consistent with Cosby drugging the victims then assaulting them.
Bill Cosby’s persona is being viewed as false and many are beginning to refuse to support him, with former fans refusing to attend his shows and demanding refunds.
There has been much outrage about the Cosby situation, but some fans will always remember him as the man that made them smile every week for over a decade.
While some colleges have decided to cut ties with Cosby, there are television networks that have decided to stand by Cosby by continuing to rerun “The Cosby Show” and refusing to take the show off the air.
Since the incident occurred, many videos have surfaced of Cosby making heartless jokes about drugging women and making several other rude remarks.
Cosby refuses to acknowledge the allegations, claiming they are a decade old and are discredited. His team of lawyers are handling the allegations by continually denying them.
He may be unbothered about the allegations, but millions of people are waiting for him to respond and answer the questions everyone wants to know.
Sexual assault is a very serious offense and should not be taken lightly. It’s a traumatizing experience and impacts thousands of victims every year.
The allegations may be old, but they are prominent. Every day there is a new story or a new woman coming forward.
If the stories are true, these women should be applauded for being brave enough to come forward. No one is above the law and these allegations most be dealt with, no matter how much power or influence Cosby has.
Opinion columnist Faith Alford is a journalism sophomore and may be reached at [email protected].
