Last night on his show, Bill Maher alluded to the allegations that Bill Cosby is a serial rapist. I take that as a sign that this issue is not going to go away quietly.
In a recent radio interview, Cosby declined to say one word about the matter, not even, "My lawyers have advised me to say nothing at this time," which would probably be a bit (just a bit) less damning than silence. Cosby also canceled a scheduled appearance with David Letterman this week, reportedly without explanation.
So what's the plan here? Does Cosby think he can still have a career doing what he's been doing — stand-up gigs, lectures, talk show guesting — and just pretend these questions aren't being asked? I don't think so. Doesn't he reportedly have a new TV series that is or was soon to go into production?
He's supposed to do a concert tonight at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont, Illinois and tomorrow night at the Warner Theater in Erie, Pennsylvania. He probably won't cancel those but I do wonder if there'll be empty seats or if people will be outside with signs demanding he address the charges. At some point, it has to impact his business, doesn't it?
The man is a great talker. If he's innocent or if there are circumstances that might put all this in a different light, he certainly has the ability to go on some talk show and communicate and explain. He also has enough dough to hire (as he probably already has) the best attorneys in the country for this kind of thing…but right now, he's probably worried more about his rep than about lawsuits or criminal charges.
Lawyers can probably keep him out of prison and he could certainly pay vast sums to his accusers and not miss the money…but neither of those things will stop him from losing the mantle of Beloved Entertainer. Much of that is disappearing even as we speak and he doesn't.