I doubt anyone cares but I have pretty much given up the "Bill Cosby could be innocent" disclaimer in talks about this matter. I suspect most of his staunchest defenders have too, in their hearts if not in their discussions. You want to be fair but there comes a point where you can't even make yourself believe you think that's a possibility.
People keep asking me, "Why doesn't he go on Oprah or somewhere and explain his position?" The answer to that probably is that he can't. When you try to think why he doesn't do this or that, you have to remember that he and his advisers are making those decisions with a whole different, larger set of facts than we have. They know what else might come out, which victims may be poised to cause Cosby more trouble, how his closest friends and family members feel about all this, etc. They're probably also trying to keep him out of future legal situations where he might have to give testimony under oath. (See William Jefferson Clinton v. Paula Corbin Jones, 1997)
And people keep asking me, "What, if anything, will be left of his career?" Well, that may depend on what else comes out and what kind of legal problems, if any, he encounters.
Assuming it gets no worse for the man — which, given the way the last week or two has been going for him, is not a great assumption — I think we can say this: Someone will hire him to go on stages and do his routines and someone will pay to see him. Even O.J. Simpson had a certain amount of earning power after he lost the civil suit and before he went to prison for the less-serious crime. So if Cosby does want to continue performing, as he might, he can be playing someplace. But I don't think we're going to see any more Jell-O commercials or honors or talk show appearances or new Cosby Shows, though the reruns will trickle back into view.
Still, I dunno. Who would have thought that Mike Tyson, who did prison time for rape and committed a barbaric act on live TV, would claw his way back to some manner of respectability? He did a one-man show on Broadway to packed houses and he has a cartoon show on Adult Swim. Then again, Tyson did his time and never pretended to be America's Dad and a scolding moralist. A guy who becomes famous for beating people up never really lets anyone down by being violent.
I seem to be in a Silver Lining mood today so I have one for the Cosby matter…
In Miami last weekend, I got to talking with Denis Kitchen about his fine biography (buy it if you haven't yet) of Al Capp. Capp was a scolding moralist and a hero to some before it came out that along with being a great cartoonist, he was an accomplished raper of college girls. Some who want to believe in Cosby's innocence argue that if it was true, he couldn't have gotten away with it as long as he did without it becoming public knowledge. Capp got away with it for a pretty long time and kept it even quieter.
The creator of Li'l Abner finally got busted in 1971. In the years just before that, I was starting to get to know some of his peers, some of the more prominent syndicated cartoonists. I therefore observed a rather amazing transformation. I watched grown men learn that rape is not a funny, colorful prank that goes just one notch past talking a cute woman into bed. I heard a couple of Capp's peers talk about his antics (to them, they were antics) with amusement and even a hint of admiration. These were men between the ages of, say, 50-70, and they just didn't get it. One even said something like, "The girls today, going around dressing like that, they're practically begging for it."
That was before what Capp was doing was reported widely, starting with a scoop in Jack Anderson's newspaper column and a report by one of his aides, Brit Hume. Yes, that Brit Hume. None of those on whom Capp had preyed had pressed charges or insisted on Capp's arrest. They didn't want to get into a "my word against his" battle with a famous man who could afford the best lawyers and most feared a legal system that would in its own way, put them on trial.
But the news stories emboldened one recent victim, Capp was charged and while he got off without jail time, he was humiliated and ruined. And a lot of men — not enough but a lot — figured out that rape wasn't like a great practical joke or a good way to get laid without buying her dinner. Some of them even learned that it wasn't about sex so much as about power, violence, and even pathological hatred. I witnessed this enlightenment on the part of several of Capp's friends and colleagues. The next time I was around some of those gents, it was not, "Hey, did you hear how Capp got a college girl to blow him?" It was, "What a sick, horrible man." Correct. Even the "practically begging for it" guy said that.
Few (if any) of Cosby's current accusers seem to be doing it because they see fame 'n' fortune. That's one reason, along with their number, that they have so much credibility. Some may be doing it because they still need to not feel that bastard got away with it…but I'll bet you they're all thinking others can learn from this. Men can learn that rape is a serious crime…and by the way, so is slipping a drug in someone's drink even if you don't rape them. Women can learn to beware and that even a famous, seemingly-benevolent person can be not so benevolent.
And this kind of thing needs to be reported. Even if you think no one will listen to you, it needs to be reported and those reports need to be investigated, not dismissed because the alleged perpetrator is beloved and/or wealthy. This whole matter with Bill Cosby is so sad and so troubling in so many ways…but if you're searching for some good to come of it, there's this: Some people are learning that it's a crime no less serious than if someone came up behind you with a knife and stabbed you. And somewhere, someone is going to be dissuaded from trying what Cosby did because he'll think, "Geez, even a rich guy like that couldn't get away with it…"