I agree that many things about this media-fed bonfire of Cosby’s reputation that seem, at the very least, to warrant some scrutiny.

Number 1 is the timing and coordination of the torrent of allegations. Bill Cosby was a very popular black celebrity in the 70s, not the pope. How is it you get raped/exploited and are so terrified and intimidated that you don’t seek any medical, psychological or other assistance for your own health and well-being..Until 30 years later?. At some point, at least one of these alleged victims of such a predator would have gone to some authority, somewhere, some how. Some kind of evidence would have been documented, would it not? Not minimizing the intimidation factor or the shame, but not one personever filed a legal complaint, or took advantage of rape victim or law enforcement resources? How can this be thought of as an insignificant fact in the media trial we are witnessing?

2. What of this “drugging.”? The case of NFL player Darren Sharper seems to be one of lacing the drinks of unwitting women and then taking advantage of them, i.e drugging and raping. However, the Cosby situation seems, from what I’ve seen so far, to be more like Hugh Hefneresque party and hedonist lifestyle activity. Quaaludes were the well-known party/sex drug of the jet set at the time (not invented by Cosby), and my guess is that women and men were willing participants in the ride. It was a part of the “lifestyle”, particularly of those in those circles. A bunch of partiers high on the ecstacy of the day, having sex, is not the same as being drugged and raped. Did any of these women say their drinks were laced againsttheir knowledge and will? If so, then absolutely that is drugging. If not, then that seems like hard 70s jet set partying to me. Wolf of Wall street apparently illuminates the role and allure of quaaludes back in the day.

My instinct is that all parties-Cosby and the accusers, did a bunch of crazy, embarrassing, and hedonistic stuff in their (multiple) encounters. My guess is that his stature at the time played a big role in who he chose for company, and what they were willing to do with him, what they thought they might gain, etc. I also would wager that this story of fame, party drugs, attractive young women/aspiring celebrities, sex and sexual escapades, etc. does not start and end with Cosby. I can completely see that he had relations with at least some of these women, and very likely lied or otherwise emotionally exploited at least some of them. Going from there to rape is a huge allegation, though.

The court of public opinion has ruled rape guilt, based on a coordinated chorus of allegations, with no substantiating evidence. I am Totally willing to allow for the possibility that Cosby could be guilty of a crime. Is it not also possible that he is not? The fact that this article presents that question, amid the overbearing frenzy of Cosby slander, is refreshing.

No one deserves to be raped; rape and all violence and exploitation toward defenseless women is despicable. But how about presuming innocence and letting the evidence, rather than a media campaign, lead you to the determination of criminality? There is always more to the story than meets the eye.

It is absolutely witness blaming to say that none of them were forced to drink anything and some of them interacted with him after the alleged abuse took place. That’s right up there with saying a wife cannot be a victim of spousal abuse because she stayed married to him, or she didn’t leave the first time. I do have some experience in this area and you touched a nerve by attempting to negate these women’s accusations because they didn’t come forward immediately, or they had some sort of involvement with him afterwards. There are many different layers of control and power that women endure. The Sandusky boys and Catholic Church boys also had ongoing relationships (in some cases) or continued to go to church and I doubt you used that against them when they mustered the courage to come forward.

Lastly, Tawana Brawley was one individual who lied. I know of ZERO instances where over 30 women cried rape, and to equate the two is hardly accurate.

I’m glad I read your initial essay and I kind of regret getting involved in the comments.

Our court system must honor the presumption of innocence or innocent until proven guilty. Nothing has been proven.

That being said, Cosby’s behavior is somewhat suspect, being that he spoke of date rape drugs in his jokes, being that he responded the way he did in an interview when he was speaking about Rashad being married and pregnant while the Cosby show was still on TV.

Many of you seem to be thinking that Cosby is completely guilty just because a lot of women say so. But quantity of women is not hard evidence. Some of the women seem reputable and upstanding, but others seem like women who were taken to the casting couch on false promises, their careers went nowhere and they got mad. And while the method used towards these women appears to be the same, none of the women are saying they were forced to drink anything nor forced to go up to his room or get into his limousine.

Timing tells a lot and there is a lot more going on with the character assassination and it’s timing than women coming forward after 20, 30 or 40 years. I understand the psychology of victims and why they don’t come forward but NONE of them before now? Something is up and someone has squeezed a few out of the woodwork, knowing that it would start a chain reaction. Everything is not always what it seems.

I hate to keep drawing the same comparisons, but no one accused the Sandusky victims of being part of some conspiracy to bring Jerry Sandusky down. It’s laughable to even put that into words. We don’t accuse the men who were abused as boys by Catholic priests of being part of some anti-Catholic conspiracy trying to bring down the priests. Why do we go to such imaginative lengths to discredit these women?

I’ve seen several of them interviewed and they seem intelligent and rational. It is very hard to imagine most of them being talked into participating in a huge lie to ruin a beloved entertainer. It is not all that hard to imagine Bill Cosby back in the carousing Playboy club years feeling his power over vulnerable women and using it. He was a married man who had a very active social life and his wife and kids moved back east to get away from “his lifestyle.” He has settled with some accusers and has an alleged grown child by another woman. So….it’s not a HUGE leap to imagine him being guilty of what he is accused of. It IS a huge leap to imagine 30+ women subjecting themselves to this kind of media storm (and possible lawsuits for libel and perjury!) because someone hates Bill Cosby that much.
Or, as Bill Maher said “(I’m paraphrasing) “No one wants that kind of 15 minutes of fame. Pretending to have been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby is not a thing anyone would do.”

But, we all come at things from our own points of view and personal histories. I know how hard it is to come forward, and I know people don’t want to believe the men they admire could do horrible things. Other people have experience being falsely accused of things, and see this from that perspective.

I try to be objective. Cosby has far more reason to lie about this than 30 women do.

While it is true victims wait a long time and never tell anyone sometimes, the timing of these women seems luke a character assassination plot they were nudged into. They could be right but the law is clear about the statute of limitations. So I have to ask what they have tovgain NOW. If you ask my opinion, I would say some of the cases are true, some are not, some have been paid to come forth and others found the courage when they saw others step up.

People keep placing all the women in the same basket and I dont think it is all in black or white, pardon the pun. Shades of grey my friend, shades of grey.