Twenty three women have come forward, so far, according to CTV News, on Monday (Nov 24), with allegations of being drugged and raped by actor and comedian Bill Cosby. And although, this has been ongoing since, 2005 – including a civil lawsuit by 13 women at that time – he’s not being held accountable, in spite of more people and information coming forth.

According to USA Today, a previous NBC Entertainment employee, Frank Scotti, 90, recently indicated ‘“he regularly brought young women to Cosby’s dressing room in Brooklyn and was asked to send money to multiple women over the years….”’ Although he wasn’t sure what was going on behind closed doors or, as he said, ‘“why he was sending thousands of dollars a month to women, he has an idea now.”’

In an interview Scotti adds, ‘”I felt like a pimp. Every time he had somebody I had to watch, I had the girl stay there. I felt dirty. … I just felt, you know, he’s not the person I thought he was”’ (NBC’s Today, on Monday).

Cosby has also admitted to having an affair with one of the women who came forth – for the second time – saying he did the same with her, according to Daily Mail (UK). They indicate, “Cosby admitted having sex with [Shawn] Brown — then known by her maiden name of Shawn Byers — during an interview with Dan Rather, in 1997.” However, when she became pregnant, he tried to persuade her to keep it hushed, for fear of tarnishing his reputation.

‘“Brown estimates Cosby gave her a total of some $250,000 in gifts and the weekly checks over the years,”’ until it was brought to court.
Brown also said to Daily Mail that she first reported being raped by Cosby, a decade ago, saying ‘“Nobody wanted to believe me then because it was the National Enquirer and we were talking about America’s favorite father.”’

And apparently, it was all just a big joke to Cosby, based on a previous comedy album, called It’s True! It’s True! (1969), where he laughs about drugging women’s drinks with Spanish Fly. In the clip, pretending to be chatting with another guy about this drug, he says, “Well there’s this girl Crazy Mary, you put some in her drink man, she, ‘Haaaaaaaaaaaaah” (USA Today, ‘Bill Cosby jokes about drugging women,’ Nov 2014.)

Apparently Cosby also didn’t care about trashing his own daughter either, in 1989, as a trade-off story to the National Enquirer to protect his own hide – in exchange for the newspaper keeping allegations about him under wraps.

According to Fox News, ‘“When the paper contacted Cosby for comment on the story [abou him], the reporter says the comedian offered them another one as a trade. That story was about Cosby’s 23-year-old daughter Erinn’s battles with drugs and alcohol.”’ Desperate measures to keep one’s personal life hidden…

With information like this, why hasn’t he been arrested? This seems to go beyond the realms of ‘Innocent-till-proven-guilty.’ Accountability for his actions seem a long time coming.

Are we so awe-struck by celebrities that they can (allegedly) go around drugging and raping women? Does being a celebrity make you that immune to consequences that the rest of the world has to face? Would a regular civilian be getting the same treatment with these kinds of allegations (and comedic clips)?

I’m also struck by the hesitance – or denial – of people to believe the allegations. There seems to be a resistance to making this seemingly ‘nice’ or well-liked person accountable for his actions.

Because someone appears ‘nice,’ it must be impossible for them not to be…? It’s as if a squeaky-clean or wholesome portrayal of a character makes it hard for some people to separate the real person from the celebrity.

Is it so far-fetched for someone to seem one way in public and another behind closed doors? Haven’t we all experienced people in our lives that are this way? It’s typical of abusers anyway – to hide their true behaviors, so their more likeable.

And I understand wanting support someone you like, but there’s a wealth of information that’s been accumulated over many years by many people (in addition to the alleged victims), such as friends of victims, media and newspaper employees…that is screaming for justice to be served here.

And what kind of society are we that we ignore someone saying they’ve been sexually assaulted, in favor of the popular guy (in this case Cosby) – because we like the person accused of doing it – who’s only comment on the matter is, “a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos.” (Bill Cosby, Florida Today, Nov 21, 2014).

He’s not denying the allegations, or defending himself, but rather arrogantly seems to think that he doesn’t have to answer to it. Is he above being accountable for any of this sick and abusive behavior?

In the The Daily News, Jewel Allison, alleged victim, summed it up nicely when she said, ‘“We may be looking at America’s greatest serial rapist that ever got away with this for the longest amount of time.”’ She adds, ‘”He got away with it because he was hiding behind the image of Cliff Huxtable….There’s no such thing as America’s Dad. There’s just a man named Bill Cosby. He’s a very sick sociopath”’ (USA Today, “More bad news for Bill Cosby with new allegations,” Nov 24).

How much more information do we need to make people accountable for these kinds of barbarics?

Rape crimes are becoming all too common and tolerated because situations like this set the bar for the next generations. And we can sit passively, thinking things like this won’t ever touch us or our loved ones, or we can support zero tolerance by keeping it in the public forefront, until something is done.