Bill Cosby is a stand-up comedian and actor, with a career spanning several decades in the entertainment industry. Presently, he is said to have a net worth of about $400 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth . That said, it could have been much higher had the rape allegations against him by numerous women, totalling over 60, not surfaced.
Many of the alleged sexual rape victims came forward after a 2014 comedy routine by Hannibal Buress that went viral. It portrayed Bill Cosby as a sexual deviant. Women who had reportedly been sexually assaulted by the actor started coming forward after this. The accusations had a negative impact on Bill Cosby projects that had already been given the go-ahead by major entertainment networks. Netflix for example, had to postpone the release of Bill Cosby 77 , a comedy starring the entertainer. NBC also halted the development of a family sitcom based on The Cosby Show . The following was the statement released by NBC ‘s Chairman Bob Greenblatt, at the time in regards to this, according to Variety .
“While over the years we’d heard some of those accusations and we heard there were a couple of settlements, it didn’t seem to be the kind of thing that was critical mass. He hasn’t been proven guilty of anything. I don’t want to be the one who says guilty until proven innocent, [but] when that many people come out and have similar complaints and it became such a tainted situation, there was no way we could move forward.”
The network severed all ties with Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby’s scheduled shows such as the Far From Finished tour were cancelled. He had apparently sold over $10 million worth of tickets. Many of the women who came forward with the shocking allegations accused Bill Cosby of drugging them and rape. His legacy was also damaged by the unfolding events, with Walt Disney World in Orlando taking down his statue. In addition, Congress tried to persuade then President Barack Obama to nullify the Presidential Medal of Freedom that he had awarded Cosby. He, however, chose to give a speech against sexual assault against women, citing lack of a procedure to revoke it.
In January 2016, Bill Cosby’s wife, Camille Cosby, was conspicuously absent when the actor appeared before a Pennsylvania court to face sexual assault charges. According to numerous reports, she was angry with him because of the humiliation he put her through. The following is what an insider close to the Cosbys told The Post at the time.
“My husband doesn’t deserve jail, but he does deserve every bit of the hell he’s going through now even though he is still pretending that this hell doesn’t exist.”
The following is what the source revealed about how she was handling the situation.
Artist Michael Atkins presents Dr. Cosby w/ a painting called Restoration Of Legacy at Dr. Cosby’s New York home yesterday, pic.twitter.com/w2CBc37OFJ
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) May 12, 2017
“[Bill Cosby’s wife] has been thoroughly humiliated and believe me, her anger isn’t directed at the women. Bill has humiliated her, and the affairs he’s had have gotten out of hand and this [criminal charge] is him reaping what he’s sown. She’s been fighting giving a deposition, but that’s not because she wants to keep protecting Bill, it’s because it’s so humiliating. She’s still married to Bill because of all of the court stuff and now the criminal stuff. She knows that you can’t force a wife to testify against her husband and she doesn’t want any part of this at all.”
https://t.co/qywPJjgC1n pic.twitter.com/tBQKNTu15K
— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) February 24, 2017
Presently, Bill Cosby has been charged with drugging and molesting only one victim, Andrea Constand. However, the trial is seen as a symbolic reckoning of the tens of women who reportedly suffered the same fate.
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