As many of you know, I’ve been very critical of Bill Cosby’s strategy to discredit the women who have accused him of sexually assaulting them. Cosby has mounted an extensive campaign to dig up dirt on his accusers–even though most of them are private people. For instance, his team has gone as far as to approach a newspaper about selling it negative information on one of his accusers, Tamara Green. Late last month, Green sued Cosby for defamation after his representatives called her a liar. Earlier this week, two more accusers joined that suit.
Well, Cosby didn’t do anything to help his cause at a performance on Thursday night in London, Ontario. Richard Warnica of the National Post, one of Canada’s national newspapers, was on hand for that performance and recalled hearing something that, in light of the current events, says a lot about Cosby’s character. Midway through his first set, a woman in the front row rose to get something. When Cosby asked her what she was doing, she said she was getting a drink. She offered to get Cosby one as well, but Cosby declined and said, “You have to be careful drinking around me.” The audience ooohed, then broke out in cheers and applause.
I saw this flash across my Facebook feed on Friday morning, and I thought that it was from The Onion at first. How in the world could Cosby, or anyone else, even think it’s remotely acceptable to joke about putting something in a woman’s drink? I’d really like to know if Cosby has the guts to say that to someone who’s actually been raped after someone spiked her drink–and to her face, not from the safety of a stage.
Equally disturbing was the reaction from the audience. Warnica tweeted, however, that at least one person was outraged by this “joke.”
Security just pulled a man out of the crowd in London. “You are a rapist!” he yelled at Cosby on the way out.
? Richard Warnica (@richardwarnica) January 9, 2015
This may not prove that Cosby is guilty. It does, however, prove beyond all doubt that he is a depraved and debauched jerk. That’s the only way you can describe someone who thinks a “joke” like this is even remotely funny. Like many black men of my generation, I once considered Cosby a role model. But after this, he has no business being held up as an example for anything, by anyone, anytime, anywhere. And even if he is ultimately exonerated, he doesn’t deserve to renew the deals he lost with Netflix, CBS, and anyone else when this scandal flared anew in November. After this, anyone who cuts a deal with Cosby would effectively be saying that you can joke about men spiking women’s drinks and get away with it.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
