Two more Cosby accusers go public as total nears 60

[Miles Archer]

Two more Cosby accusers go public as total nears 60

http://www.wcnc.com/story/life/people/2015/10/23/two-more-cosby-accusers-go-public-total-nears-60/74477228/

Lawyer Gloria Allred's unrelenting pursuit of Bill Cosby produced two more accusers Friday, bring the total number of women who have publicly claimed Cosby drugged and/or sexually assaulted them in decades past to nearly 60.

Allred, who represents about half of the Cosby accusers, introduced Donna Barrett and Dottye (no last name was given) at a press conference in New York.

Allred addressed Cosby and his dwindling band of defenders and skeptics, saying anyone who thinks her campaign to flush out more accusers is over are wrong. If Cosby hopes accusers would stop coming forward, he hopes in vain.

"I can assure Mr. Cosby that there are still more victims who will be courageous enough to come forward in the future," Allred declared. "It is vital that the women who assert that they are victims speak out, because the sheer magnitude of the number of victims, the similarity and common themes of what they state happened to them, coupled with their sincerity, are what we want the public to know.

[brush]

1. I remember at one time Cosby tried to buy the then-struggling NBC

I think it was the in the early '90s. He was flush with cash and had big money backers as well. He was also the one who had single-handedly saved the last place network in the early '80s with the success of his top-rated show and was seemingly the logical one to come and save it again.

Wonder if one of the reasons it was declared "not for sale" was because his sexual perversions were well known in the industry?

And of course there was another likely reason as well — not wanting a black man to have the kind of power that comes with owning a broadcast network.

[shenmue]

2. Wow

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. A warning bell is going off in my head over this latest news.

the # of victims is getting to be pretty high
and
it is Gloria Allred driving the cases.

Not saying there are not victims, and there seems to be enough proof if only because Cosby hung himself with his own testimony,
but this is now getting into pretty high numbers.

[Miles Archer]

4. Gloria Allred is always an invitation to fact-check

But...as you say, there is proof, and documented instances of Cosby paying hush money. It's the same thing with Michael Jackson. There are still people to this day who believe he was framed and/or 100% innocent, but I don't see any way to escape asking why an innocent man pays out hush money.

[XemaSab]

6. Last year I went on a binge read of info about Michael Jackson

There's no way he wasn't creepy about boys.

He wasn't into women. He wasn't into men. He wasn't into little girls.

And the way that he kept going back to having children around even after the first time he was accused of molestation is compulsive.

He just couldn't stay away from them.

I don't know if he was actually having sex with them, but his "sleepovers" were not even close to okay. It would be so easy for him to drug and molest a boy without the child knowing what had happened.

I can't even listen to his music without thinking about him molesting kids.

[oberliner]

7. What's your take on the Cosby situation?

It seems like there is quite a lot pointing to his guilt.

[XemaSab]

10. I think he's 100% guilty

and it horrifies me that he seems to PREFER having sex with unconscious women.

[Miles Archer]

11. I'm with you on that...

...obviously, there's no excuse for someone doing that once, but when it becomes serial behavior, it's easy to understand why so many people and institutions are distancing themselves from the man. Yes, it is still "alleged" behavior, and until he's tried in court and found guilty, we are a society built upon "innocent until guilty." However, we'd be kidding ourselves if we chose to ignore "the court of public opinion" coupled with "reasonable doubt," and in light of both, we're looking at a man who is never going to recover from this. He may not go to jail for it..."if he did it"...but his career is over.

[XemaSab]

14. If he had a pattern of merely seducing women or of paying hookers

I'd still be dismayed but not horrified.

He could have done either of these things, but instead he systematically selected, isolated, drugged, and raped women.

If this went on for 20 years, that means that about once every four months, he would feel the need to do this and he would satisfy this need.

There's a term for that:

Serial rapist.

[ZX86]

9. It pains me greatly to see these entertainer's fall from grace.

I was a fan of Cosby's before I Spy. The first record I bought was a 45rpm of Jackson 5 "I Want You Back". Their art is completely intertwined with my fondest childhood memories. I don't believe that entertainers are required to be role models but I feel violated. When people you admire turn out to be sick perverts it really ruins your faith in humanity.

[oberliner]

13. Are you still able to enjoy their work?

I, too, was a big fan of the early Bill Cosby comedy as well as Michael Jackson's music.

Do you find it possible to still enjoy their work?

[ZX86]

16. I can still enjoy the Jackson 5

Because I can rationalize he was not an abuser then and was more likely than not a victim himself. Cosby's crimes are still too fresh for me to think about anything other than what a monster he is.

What I find so disturbing in Cosby's case it was completely unnecessary. He was rich celebrity. What women he couldn't snag on his position in the entertainment business he could easily afford from the sex industry. Drugging and raping starstruck fans and entry level performers is beneath contempt.

[bettyellen]

17. When isn't rape "completely unnecessary."? For fucks sake, think about it.

[ZX86]

21. You're missing the point.

The comment wasn't an excuse for rape. Things like rape and torture are always wrong. The point is he should know better and had the means to have sex with multiple partners if he chose to do so without rape.

[bettyellen]

35. You are assuming consensual sex is what a rapist actually wants- so nope.

He enjoyed them being powerless. Others enjoy the fear and pain they inflict. Sex is not a substitute or something that can prevent violent predators from acting out. That's ridiculous.

[ZX86]

37. You're assuming that I'm assuming.

Neither of us know what compelled Cosby to rape these women. What I do know is that he had the mental capacity to know it was wrong and the financial means to to live out any sex fantasy he was cursed with.

Pointing out that some tragedy is a "senseless crime" like when a gangbanger's stray bullet kills an innocent bystander is not to diminish the murder of a clerk in a liquor store robbery. It's the way people process tragedies. Likewise pointing out that Cosby had alternatives to rape is in no way an attempt to excuse or minimize his criminal behavior.

[bettyellen]

39. Sex is not a "viable alternative" to rape.

[tblue37]

19. But the power high he felt from drugging and raping wasn't available

if they were willling--or even if they had any agency at all.

[XemaSab]

30. But he could pay a hooker to tie her to the bed and "rape" her

or whatever other fantasy he's into.

There are many similarities with MJ in that both men could make whatever they wanted to have happen come true.

MJ invited little boys over and fondled them with impunity.

Cosby drugged and raped adult women.

This is what they were both into.

[bettyellen]

36. He did this to women he had relationships with - it was a sick power trip.

The other person being okay with doing it would have spoiled it for him. That's why people say it ain't about sex.

[CBGLuthier]

33. I don't think you understand how Mr. Cosby seems to work. It wasn't about getting women to have sex

It was about drugging and raping women. That seems to be what he was into. Raping half conscious women. All the consensual sex in the world does not change his particular fetish. He is more or less a variant of a necrophiliac in that his sexual desires require something wrong, illegal and immoral.

[pnwmom]

31. No, I can't enjoy the work of Cosby or Woody Allen or Michael Jackson

or Mel Gibson -- though I think the latter is despicable for other reasons (his racism.)

[Miles Archer]

15. I used to own ALL of the Cosby comedy albums on vinyl

I heard the "Spanish Fly" routine many, many times. Nothing was said about it. It was not "controversial" in its day. In the days before Viagra, jokes about taking something that could make you "go all night" were considered "funny." It was also before the days of roofies and the term "date rape." It was before the days of the Catholic Church having "issues" with their priests. We didn't see a lot of things because they were still under the rugs they were swept under.

The kind of thing people reacted to in those days was a Lenny Bruce album, or a Redd Foxx album...guys who worked "blue." Those were "bad." If you wanted to buy those albums at all you had to ask for them, because if they were even in the store, they were under the counter. The store was happy to take your money but didn't want to sully their image by openly selling "filth."

There was ONE Cosby album...a 2-record set, one the early "dinner" show and two the "adults only" show that, for the life of me, I cannot remember anything remotely "adult" about it.

Then there's the famous Eddie Murphy bit about Cosby telling him he didn't have to use foul language in his stand-up. If I remember correctly, Murphy's "F off" reply has been debunked, it was part of the routine but not actually something he said to Cosby.

But he painted that Cliff Huxtable character in the same way that no one really saw the suicidal cry for help under the facade Robin Williams created. What we see is not always what we get. The whole point of what I am saying here is that IF Cosby did these things, he did them in an era in which most people who would normally call him on it had their heads turned the other way.

[JI7]

27. i think Michael Jackson had mental issues and was still in a childlike phase

but i don't think he actually molested anyone. the father of the first one that accused him committed suicide shortly after Jackson died. i thought there was guilt behind that.

he had issues and needed help for sure. i just don't think he harmed any kids.

[cwydro]

8. I agree. The whole thing is beyond weird.

He'll probably pay big bucks and get out of it.

I don't trust Gloria Allred one minute however.

[Skittles]

12. the man did this for decades

his actual victim numbers will be in the hundreds

[bettyellen]

18. Could be fifty years worth of victims, so yes- easily in the hundreds.

[davidpdx]

20. I would not be surprised in the least if the number went above 100

The question will be whether a victim that is within the statue of limitations will come forward where Cosby can actually be put on trial. I find it difficult to believe he stopped 5 or 10 years ago (I have no idea what the statue of limitations is for rape).

[Skittles]

23. according to Law & Order

you can thank the Catholic Church for the statute of limitations on sexual crimes

[davidpdx]

24. I'm not sure I'd quote Law & Order as a source

It maybe true though. They certainly have a hell of a lot of pull legislatively.

[Skittles]

25. I didn't Google because I know it would make me sick

[davidpdx]

26. I know it's been discussed in other threads because of the women coming forward

I think he and OJ Simpson would be a good match for cell mates

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. Holy Moly.that is a lot of victims

[oldandhappy]

22. He and his wife both knew he had a problem.

Shame on both of them for not getting him some help for this addiction. They allowed people to get hurt rather than facing reality. Cosby was a talented man. And now we know he was an ostrich.

[davidpdx]

28. Fixed

Cosby was a talented man. And now we know he was an ostrich serial rapist.

[JI7]

29. i bet there are many more women who have not come forward and will not come foward

many would have families with grandkids and considering the times some of them were raised in(and it's a problem even today) they may feel more shame/embarrassment in coming forward.

some may have passed away also.

[Miles Archer]

32. I have no idea if there are any metrics for victims coming forward...

...but my educated guess is that more remain silent. There is obviously a "ripple effect"...we've seen it with the Jerry Sandusky situation as well as with the Catholic church. First person speaks out, that gives courage to the second to do the same, etc.

But my guess is that if 60 women have gone public with this it first hit the headlines, the numbers must be much greater than 60.

[leftyladyfrommo]

34. I think he wasn't the only one into that

Back then. They need to look at the whole Playboy mansion thing.

Hef's women tell about having to take quaaludes for men, too.

[tavernier]

38. Seriously, a flock of ppl here

But I'm the only person who remembers Wellstone?