Bill Cosby enjoyed a reputation as one of America’s most beloved comedians but many media critics have been worried about several allegations of sexual misconduct against Cosby that have been seemingly swept under the carpet.
A number of women have stepped forward in recent years to claim that Cosby carried on affairs with them, including more than a dozen women who came forward in 2004. The affairs and alleged assaults were detailed in a tell-all book, Cosby: His Life and Times .
Comedian Hannibal Burress has certainly taken notice. The stand up comedian recently launched into Cosby, saying Bill has enjoyed a perfect image despite the allegations against him.
Philadelphia Magazine provided a video of Hannibal’s comments.
“Thirteen? It’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the f***ing smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. He gets on TV, ‘Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the 80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom.’ Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches.”
“‘I don’t curse onstage.’ Well, yeah, you’re rapist, so I’ll take you saying lots of motherf***ers on Bill Cosby: Himself if you weren’t a rapist. I don’t know what I’m doing by telling you. I guess I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch Cosby Show reruns.”
“Dude’s image, for the most part, it’s f***ing public Teflon image. I’ve done this bit on stage and people think I’m making it up … That s**t is upsetting. If you didn’t know about it trust me. When you leave here, Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny. That s**t has more results than ‘Hannibal Buress’.”
Burress is not the first person to note a strange lack of coverage for the allegations against Bill Cosby. Slate writer Amanda Hess also noted that the media has been quiet about Cosby’s alleged assaults.
Gawker ‘s Tom Scocca asked why allegations against R. Kelly and Woody Allen garnered media attention while Cosby did not, noting: “Who wants to remember Bill Cosby’s multiple sex-assault accusations?” In the end Scocca concluded that “nobody wanted to live in a world where Bill Cosby was a sexual predator. It was too much to handle.”
But Hannibal Buress may have changed that, at least in the short term. The allegations against Bill Cosby have been given new light and are being covered in a number of national publications and news outlets.