Bill Cosby’s newly released admission of drugging women with Quaaludes for sex should have lasting effects on his image. Most people already believed the victims, but with this testimony, the accounts of his victims, including Janice Dickinson, are validated. It will be interesting to see how Cosby handles this new crisis. Even Disney World removed their Cosby statue after the latest development.
Few people can still look past all of the allegations now that Cosby’s own words have confirmed them. Two public figures still refuse to turn on him, and they both happen to be co-hosts on The View. Yep, I’m talking about Whoopi Goldberg and Raven-Symone:
“In America, still — I know it’s a shock — you are innocent until proven guilty,” she said. “He has not been proven a rapist.”
Court docs stemming from a 2005 lawsuit filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand show that Cosby admitted to giving Constand three tablets of Benadryl and having seven prescriptions for Quaaludes. Cosby said he offered the sedative to at least one woman and “other people.”
“I don’t like snap judgments because I’ve had snap judgments made on me, so I’m very, very careful,” Goldberg continued. “Save your texts, save your nasty comments. I don’t care.”
New View host Raven Symone, who as a child starred with Cosby on The Cosby Show, was more cautious with her stance. “I don’t like to talk about it much because he’s the reason I’m on this panel in the first place, he gave me my first job,” she said. “You need the proof and then I’ll be able to give my judgment here or there. Now that there are more facts, more people can come up.”
[From Variety]
Raven sounds like she’s coming around to the truth. Whoopi, on the other hand, is a lost cause. She previously spoke out for Cosby, but Whoopi’s also the same person who defended Roman Polanski with “I know it wasn’t rape-rape” reasoning. Even after reading Cosby’s admissions, Whoopi still believes there’s not enough proof of guilt.
Cosby previously thanked Whoopi and Jill Scott for their support. Whoopi is still team Cosby, but Jill retracted her words after reading the newly released testimony.
About Bill Cosby. Sadly his own testimony offers PROOF of terrible deeds, which is ALL I have ever required to believe the accusations.
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) July 6, 2015
I stood by a man I respected and loved. I was wrong. It HURTS!!! When you get it ALL right, holla.
— ⭐Jill Scott⭐ (@missjillscott) July 6, 2015
Judd Apatow also weighed in (with Esquire) on the newly revealed Cosby admissions. I really liked what he had to say, so here’s the quote in full:
“I don’t think there is anything new here. It is only new to people who didn’t believe an enormous amount of women who stated clearly that he drugged them. We shouldn’t need Bill Cosby to admit it to believe forty people who were victimized by him. I am sure there are many victims who have not come forward. Maybe now more people in show business and all around our country will stand up and tell the people he attacked that we support you and believe you. I also hope Camille Cosby and Phylicia Rashad will now stand with the victims and not with their attacker.”
Judd’s position is that no one should have needed to hear confirmation from Cosby to believe the timeline of abuse really happened. Good for Apatow. He also did well to call out Camille Cosby and Phylicia Rashad for branding the victims as liars.
Photos courtesy of Getty & WENN
You know I use to really like and respect whoopie but wow has that changed. Sometimes it’s best to just not comment.
I feel the same way. I actually would not be surprised if she lost her job over this. I really think her statements here have gone too far.
She is not losing her job. Disney aka ABC has to pay her out $5 million until the summer of 2017. I wish they would get rid of her and make the View a watchable show again. On the same note Rosie Perez just left the show.
Bill Cosby is gross and the public has not been wrong in asking for him to sit down
She won’t lose her job – she’s actually done worse than this. She described the football player who whipped his son’s genitals until they were bleeding, as a “thump”, and excused it as a cultural difference. Which by the way, she excused away Michael Vick’s dog torture/killings as cultural as well.
She’s defended Roman Polanski and Stephen Collins – even though they both admitted their molestation.
After injuring her back months ago, she showed up on set high as a kite. She actually jumped up out her chair, staggered over to an xray diagram of a dinosaur, and searched for it’s penis – on the live show.
For years she bumbled through the teleprompter and sat virtually in a disinterested coma as her co-workers carried (such as it was) the show. She woke up when Rosie O’Donnell came back and rode her hard until Rosie quit again. Her favorite saying when discussing rape/molestation is: “We weren’t there, we don’t know”, and her favorite way of telling her audience they mean nothing, is saying – “don’t tweet me, I don’t care”.
ETA: Almost forgot this one. Whoopi chided women for being teases, and said there is a point in which women cannot back out of having sex. It’s just too difficult for the poor men.
and she’s wrong.
having sex with an incapacitated person, whether intoxicated by their own doing or not, when they can’t give consent, is the very definition of rape.
I wonder if Cosby were to drug her daughter and (“not”) rape her if she’d feel differently.
Rosie left?? Lol! I didn’t even notice!
My fiancé and I were talking about this exactly this morning when the headline came across the news. She seems to be clinging to the old “no means no,” and is happy to defend people who RAPE unconscious women because the woman didn’t say no. Really, Whoopi?? If the woman (or a man) did not give CONSENT – positive, affirmative consent, it’s rape. She defended the Stubenville rapists, and blamed the victim. She defended Ceelo Green. She defends Bill Cosby. She is an absolutely disgusting human being. Honestly, I’m not sure at this point who disgusts me more – Cosby or Goldberg.
@doofus
+1
She won’t believe 40 women who have had the guts to come forward and tell their stories of abuse by a cunning predator, yet she’ll still say he’s not guilty, and this after he said “yes” to his intentions on tape. This is so incredibly disrespectful to those poor women, just so she can defend her golden boy. She would be the courtroom mother screaming her son is innnocent after he’s been caught on video commiting some horrendous crime.
She probably wouldn’t believe it even if she saw it happen with her own eyes.
I’m sure that in Whoopie’s head, rape is this great white humpback whale. It hardly exists. If it was to happen to someone close to her, I’m all but certain she’d ignore that persons pain and make disparaging comments. She is a dreadful person.
Bravo to Debbie’s comment with an “exactly” added.
And “doofus,” you’re right…she’s wrong…plus everything else you said.
Goodbye Whoopi. Only Whoopi would be so g*d*mn technical as to once again defend this ogre. So, yes, TECHNICALLY…he hasn’t been found guilty of rape in a court of law. You would think, however, that she would at least own up to the fact that the very fact of SETTLING and the testimony we have heard offers some indication of wrongdoing—if not legal, then in a real-world sense of outrage. At this point, she is simply sticking to what she has said before to be obstinate. At least Jill Scott had the good sense to come around when Cosby’s OWN WORDS implicated him. Whoopi refuses to even go that far. Of course, this is the woman who has distinctions for rape vs. rape-rape. Maybe Rosie was on to something after all.
Can someone dig up Whoopie’s comments on Jerry Sandusky before his trial? Did she stick to her guns then, and consider him ‘innocent?’ I find it very hard to believe as long as she’s been living she’s never had an opinion pre-trial about someone to whomwhom first person criminal accusations have been made. She did the same thing with Mel Gibson even after hearing his disgusting, threatening tapes as I recall. I think Whoopie is a misogynist in a woman’s body.
I would have loved for Rosie ODonnell to have been on the panel. What a screaming match that would have been.
Goodbye Whoopi. I occasionally watch the show but her comments are repulsive. People should now be asking why does Whoopi always defend rapists? Why does the View have someone like that on their show??
I used to love and admire Whoopi for her sassiness and outspokenness, but no more. I don’t know how she can continue to defend the indefensible, but she does. Big thumbs-down from me. If a woman is incapacitated due to drugs or alcohol she is incapable of consent, therefore it is RAPE. No exceptions, no grey areas. Rape is rape. She’s becoming a serial apologist for rapists. What a downturn for her. She needs to step off.
My Grandmother always told us that it is better for people to think you are a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.
I understood the initial jump to defend someone you worked with and respected. As the days continued on though and more victims were found… A blind man could see there was something wrong. It is disturbing to say the least. I was hoping it wasn’t true but it was purely selfish on my part. I wAnted to retain the innocent part of my childhood. I have played the episode where Theo had to pay rent and they all dressed up in the act. The time the girls came down the stairs lipsyncing RESPECT… Nostalgia overload here.
+one million. She’s shattered the love I had for her growing up.
Same here, Debbie. I used to think Whoopi was really smart and likeable, too, but clearly, this is not the case. I can’t believe she’s being so pig-headed about this. It is OK to say you were wrong, and she’d get more respect if she did so. The wisest thing for her to do now is to just shut up.
Holy mother. She’s the worst, so this isn’t surprising. It is terribly sad though.
Also, heck yes Judd!
yeah, I LOVE that he specifically called out the real Mrs. and the TV Mrs.
Me, too. I’m so morbidly curious about what’s happening in his wife’s head. Is she just refusing to believe it because it means she has been standing by a serial rapist and she can’t deal with it? Or does she know and think it’s all no big deal? Or is there some more serious manipulation/abuse happening?
Mrs. Cosby is or was trying to hang on to her Hollywood wife status. If that means turning a blind eye,so be it. These accusations have been around for over twenty years or more. How do you not sit your husband down and question him? How do you not self analyze your choice to stay in the marriage?
I personally would have felt like Iwas contributing to his preditory, sociopathic, sadistic behavior.
I don’t get his wife, it’s not like she needs the money or status. She is from and old money aristocratic family she has money and status. Maybe it is years of abuse? Or she doesn’t want to admit it for her kids? But I don’t get it.
At this point, after all the accusations against Bill, I would have no problem believing he has abused her for years. Manipulated her, told her it was all in her head, etc. She’s probably pretty medicated herself.
I only say this because my husband is emotionally abusive and what I’ve been thru is MINOR compared to what she’s been thru with Bill. I have no doubt at this point that she is a victim too.
His wife may be sticking by him out of pride. If she were to admit to herself that all the things he is accused of are true, I’m sure she’d feel that it was a reflection on herself.
Delta Juliet! I am so sorry to hear about your situation. Are you getting help? Support? 🙁
Heat
That’s my guess too. Defending him for so long. Turning a blind eye. Accepting this behavior in some form. She’s in deep. Defending him is defending herself.
Camille is NOT a victim. The victims are the women who were raped and those who supported him unaware of what he was doing. One of the victims early on stated Camille was in the room with them when Cosby suggested the victim have a drink to help her relax and once the drugs took affect and the victim was passing out, Camille quietly got up, left the room, and shut the door. SHE KNEW!!!
She is no different than Dotty Sandusky who one of the Sandusky victims said he knew she heard him screaming and crying in the basement while being raped, but she stayed up stairs and did nothing. THESE WOMEN KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. They stay because they have a reputation and they don’t know who they are if they are not so and so’s wife. That does not count as abuse. That is pure unwillingness to do the right thing all out of selfishness, greed, cruelty, laziness, and self-pity. I have no tolerance for it. Maybe Cosby was/is emotionally abusive to Camille. I doubt it. But even if he were, it’s still not justification to excuse yourself from a rape in progress. I think it’s a lot simpler than the explanations of cocomplexity of their relationship and mental abuse, etc. She wanted to maintain her status quo.
From her interviews, it seems as if Bill has slipped a few pills into her drinks.
@delta Juliet, so sorry to hear that you are going through that. I hope there is a safe and healthy resolution for you.
Delta
Find support. That is a terrible situation and nothing about resolving it can be easily done.
Best wishes!
I hate to say it, but it sounds like Camille could be one of those women who think turning a blind eye to “infidelity” is the price you pay for a status marriage and all its perks.
And after all of these years with him – and five children, one of whom was murdered – it’s now an investment paradigm she cannot risk. She would lose everything after all of these years.
So when “cheating” starts to sound more like “raping,” out come the rationalizations. As in, it’s the other women’s fault for putting themselves in the situation, they are just ambitious and scorned, they want want she has, etc.
He’s disgusting, she’s offensive for the looking the other way.
I would not say Camille is a victim, but I think it is more than possible she only thought he was cheating on her and not attacking women. Until someone has some knowledge that she actually knew about the attacks, I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on this. I can see how others though would find her offensive though.
Still it does bother me when we start parsing blame to others. Sure, others who suspected should have stood up and said something, but see where that kind of logic leads. I was watching Bill Maher with Judd Apatow on, and apparently, the comic community knew or suspected this for decades, but still he was revered. Do we blame them? The forty some women were over decades, why didn’t one of them try to pursue criminal charges, even if it would have been hard. Should we blame them? That idea is ridiculous, but the fact that none felt comfortable enough with the system to think they should pursue a criminal charge is what his supporters have clung to. I think the blame is totally on Bill Cosby, and his wife, and colleagues aren’t victims but they aren’t to blame either. The only victims are the women, and hope they get to find some justice, preferably legal justice, soon.
Ugh reasons I cannot watch the View any longer. As much as the old panel sometimes would gets on my nerves, you KNOW Joy and Elizabeth and Barbara would’ve called Cosby out weeks ago. This panel only had one person take a hard stance after yesterday and yea thats incredibly sad.
I believe it was Mic or Jezebel that pointed out how troubling it is that 46 women had the same story and no one believed them. But Cosby ADMITTED to drugging women and all of the sudden people get a fucking clue. 46 women are not all looking for a payday…this is why rape culture exists. Why a university student carried a mattress around for a year. Why a girl and her family left town after her football player rapists were charged because they were being sent death threats. No lets not protect the victims lets worry about the rapists “future”
Sorry this is long…this topic makes me RAGE for personal reasons
Rosie ODonnell too would have said something against Cosby. I thought the women on the panel were supposed to have opposing views or at least their own views. No way the others agree with Whoopi but don’t say anything? Why?
does this show even have an audience anymore?
Probably all the disgusting people who spend their time judging and blaming the victims and talking about what a poor, missunderstood man Bill is. And unfurtunately there are a lot of them.
Whoopi whoopi whoopi…you’ve become so annoying. Pounding head against wall.
Btw, what is also annoying is your new ad – grrr. Click on your posts and am redirected to App Store. 🙁
Yeah that happens to me sometimes, too. It’s a pain.
The word ‘inexcusable’ certainly comes to mind.
In addition to everything else, this is an interesting study in how the concept of ‘allegiance’ crosses all sorts of different lines and categories – both in concept, and in practice.
I used to think that without him admitting it, there were some people who would simply never believe it. Well, now he has in sworn testimony, and some STILL don’t? How???
Kudos to Judd Apatow.
Whoopi always defends unsavory people ,she also big time defended Mel Gibson. My one question is whats wrong with him,why did he drug them,I am sure he would have gotten plenty of yeses from women willing to have consensual sex especially when he was younger.
Whoopi even defended Michael Vick the dog killer saying “he didn’t know any better.” She’s a jerk.
Oh, that was so offensive. She said dogfighting was part of his “culture.” I’m still pissed off about that. Way to paint an entire demographic with that brush.
It wasn’t about consensual sex, it was about power. He’s disgusting.
yes, and don’t think for a moment, he handles them gently. I’m going to guess many of those women were sodomized. Many have already said they awoke to his crotch in their mouth. Sorry for the graphic images this conjures, but let’s get real. No, he could not have had sex with these women who were young, good-looking, and most were inexperienced and all that that implies. I’ll bet some, the very young ones, were virgins. He did what he did to have who he wanted, when he wanted, the way he wanted and no, I don’t beleive any one of them would have agreed to that.
jenniferjustice– One lady said she was with Cosby and a bunch of other guys. When she came to she was battered and bruised. I wonder if she was raped by more than one person?
Because rape isn’t always about sex but rather about the power the rapist enjoys over the victim.
Darren Sharper was also a good-looking and famous nfl player who would have easily gotten women to sleep with him and in some cases his victims consented to have sex with him but he drugged them anyways since he obviously enjoyed raping women while they were unconscious and helpless.
Yes I was trying to remember that name, he was extremely good looking, wealthy and powerful. I was scratching my head on why on earth would a man with all want to rape a woman.
Because the women probably would have only consented to what I’ll call “regular” sex, but if they’re incapacitated, he can do whatever he wants to them and I’m sure it was violent. That is why, when a person is raped, the rapist can be charged with multiple counts of rape even though it all happened during one rape. They are charged with rape for every penetration of every orifice and if they pull out and go back in the same orifice, it is another charge of rape, so when you hear that a person has been charged with three counts of rape for raping one woman one time, it is because he either raped her three times before stopping or because he penetrated three different orifices. Again, sorry for the graphic detail, but it needs to be known.
Consent sucks, apparently. It’s all about power and making someone do something you want them to do–in fact, their humiliation and lack of consent is the turn on. And when people fought back, he’d give up and then threaten them that they were finished in the business (if I am remembering Beverly Johnson’s story correctly). So he was a weakling to boot. Cowardly Cosby.
The guy had gotten such a “break”–I know this sounds callous–when his son was killed. Everyone kind of forgave what was happening in the Temple case and just wanted it to go away because he was facing that huge tragedy. The man never should have felt empowered enough again to think he could come back to TV. He should have remained in the shadows and faded into oblivion. As Yoda would say, “Now, matters are worse.”
@Pinky – I’m confused. Ennis was killed in 1997. I thought the Temple was was in 2005. How was Cosby facing that huge tragedy (sons murder) during the Temple case (since it happened 8 years earlier)???
@prissa Good question! My timeline is screwy, huh? Somehow the death of his son was brought up in all the Temple stuff–maybe it was a defense strategy to dredge it up and distract people from the real issue at hand. Or maybe I got my timeline mixed up!?
“My one question is whats wrong with him,why did he drug them,I am sure he would have gotten plenty of yeses from women willing to have consensual sex especially when he was younger….”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hate even thinking about this whole creepy issue.
But it appears Crosby’s “thing” was… taking it against their will.
I also suspect the exact act/acts he wanted to perform, most women are not going to agree to… because if it was simple sex act. He would not had to get them unconscious to do it.
What I find more startling.
Is the whole issue with his ability to obtain Quaalude’s, decades after they were taken off the US market.
Him and that creepy ass Hugh Hefner. Both of them were still securing great qualities of Quaalude’s for sex. *shudder* Why is the US government/DEA not asking a few questions, about their ability to have those pills so easily.
Yep, I bet Cosby probably preferred taking what was not given to him. I think the same thing kinda about John Travolta. Consensual sex is not as thrilling.
Because rape isn’t about having sex. Its about power and violating other people.
How was she with the OJ Simpson trial? Was she one of those people who thought there should be video?
Is Whoopie just a professional contrarian?
I know right? And I used to respect that contrarion streak in her. But I don’t think it’s authentic. Whoopi is not a DUMB woman. She has to know this points to him being guilty as hell. Maybe this is her little rebellion, She likes to anger people.
And like someone said below, she tries to make it all about her. I think she identifies with people who are publicly vilified or something. Perhaps she has contempt for women who are victims too. (Maybe it’s a part of herself that she hates). That’s why she can’t muster any empathy for the women here. That’s my psychobabble for the day. lol
I agree, she probably has some internalized misogyny. She wants to be the ‘cool girl’ hanging out with the all-male winner’s circle.
Whoopi could have been such a force for good by speaking up for women. It’s a shame that even with her level of success she’s still looking to belong rather than speak up for those without power.
I think so. She knows it brings her attention, which in a sad way probably justifies her keeping her job at the View, which has never cared about quality or substance.
I wonder if she her opinion about Cosby is the same when the camera is off and she’s safely at home behind closed doors
Well, Whoopi comes as no surprise at all. She defends anything with a penis, regardless of their actions.
Yeah, she is a classic case of “male identified.”
Btw, if that phrase is new to you, it doesn’t mean that she thinks she is a man or wants to be a man. Women who are male identified are women who always take the male’s perspective and best interests over any woman. It’s like Stockholm Syndrome on steroids.
That must be it, seriously. She seems to have zero empathy for other women, especially when they are victims of men. She ALWAYS excuses the men, even Polanski, who’s victim was practically a child.
I am not familiar with this, but it makes perfect sense. She really has no respect for other women. She treated Beverly Johnson horribly.
Never heard that term before, but I know women who fall under that category.
But yeah, Whoopi is THE WORST.
Could be. I wonder if she feels like she has to take the devil’s advocate position on everything. I fall into that trap too sometimes. Trying to keep an extremely open mind and consider all sides of an issue. Usually I can sort of see where both sides are coming from. In some cases though, like this one, the devil is the devil and doesn’t need advocating.
I think she likes being (in her own mind) the wise voice of reason.
And no one can tell her otherwsie.
Thank you for the terminology, @soporificat. I know too many women like her, and so it is helpful to know that certain thought-patterns in society require, due to how utterly perverse and pathological they are, proper categorisation.
She really, really does. It’s like she hates women.
A few months ago, there was a poster on here, and I’m sorry I can’t remember who it was, but she gave a very honest and brave (I thought) account of how she used to feel about other women, especially victims of sexual assault or mistreatment by men. To sum it up, she said she hated and looked down on them because, as a defense mechanism, she didn’t believe that would ever happen to her because she was too sharp. I’m totally putting words in her mouth, but it was enlightening as to how a woman could convince herself that it really was the victims’ fault, because they were weak and stupid. She also said she was waking up to the fact that it could happen to anyone, and was saddened by her past attitude. I think Soporificat might have the answer. It’s sad, and infuriating, whatever the cause.
That is a very common defense mechanism, and is (IMO) at the root of ‘blaming the victim’ perspectives.
I felt that way too before it happened to me.
At my university there was a case of a girl claiming assault, but everything was debunked. She was logged into the library system and on cameras that whole night. While the guy was visiting his parents in another state.
Because of that several actual assaults over the semester got overlooked and dismissed.
It’s not always maicious to blame the victim. Some people just don’t want to believe it could happen so easily.
You said it GNAT. I wasn’t sure before but now I am. Something’s seriously messed up in Whoopi’s psyche.
Definitely a misogynist, it all makes sense now.
I don’t think we’ll ever hear from Camille. Perhaps Rashad might speak up, but I wouldn’t count on that either – Rashad had gone on to star with Cosby in another short-lived sitcom after The Cosby Show, surely she had to know about the rumors. Lisa Bonet is the person I’d want to hear speak —
Rashad knew. Which makes it all kinds of gross that she went on to star with him in the second series, Cosby, after The Cosby Show ended. I went to a taping of Cosby, and a woman was talking about Cosby’s predilections right there, openly, to us nobodies in the audience. She said he had a room on the set that he’d call the women into, and he’d shut the door behind them and everyone knew what he was attempting to do in there. I think he’d even tried it on her! And the guest stars–especially the ingenue light-skinned black women who were trying to get a break in the industry? Well, they had to “pay to play,” as it were. He wasn’t even sneaky about it. It was sanctioned. SO. That’s another thing in all this: CBS was complicit in his behavior, because all those folks on the CBS set (including producers and network brass) knew what was happening. I am willing to bet that NBC was complicit, because his behavior began well before the Cosby Show years, and once they learned what was happening, they should have put a stop to it or introduced a morality clause into his contract. But, no. He was too big a cash cow for them to attempt to tame his ways. And HUGH HEFNER and THE PLAYBOY MANSION were complicit, because that’s probably where he tested his strategies. And it seems as though his behavior was not only sanctioned there, but that there were others who did the exact same thing (and who knows–traded notes).
Ever needed a reason as to why Playboy and crap like it sucks? Well, here ya go.
And of course, as we all know, Lisa Bonet knew and WAS. NOT. HAVING. IT.
Allred should forget going after Cosby and go after NBC, CBS, and THE PLAYBOY MANSION. THAT is where I want all this to go. And she can call little old nobod-me to testify!
Wow, that’s crazy. So people knew how he was for a long time
That is just crazy! I totally believe it, but it is crazy. Do these networks not fear any repercussion for their complicity? So the guy was a cash cow – how does that balance out the possibility of the network being sued for allowing it? I hope they get what they have coming too. Wouldn’t it be great for all these greedy demons to lose what seems most precious to them – money – and have to live a peasant life? It’s my new dream.
That is just…I got shivers reading that.
So much creepy. So, so gross.
Didn’t Holly Madison write about Hefner offering her quaaludes the first time they met and calling them “panty droppers” or something? They sound like the drug of choice for creepy old men….
Yep. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/holly-madison-hugh-hefner-drugs-tried-buy-me-will-2015106
I am not excusing or defending this, but it was a different time in so many ways. In addition, I think a lot less people actually knew about it, some suspected it and probably knew the sex but thought it was consensual. They didn’t know the details and didn’t care to find out either. Also, he most likely is very different personality wise with some people than he was with the women he attacked. Although, I am guessing he was quite charming with the women before the attack too.
If this happened today, he would most likely not be able to attack that many women. One of the many women would have felt more comfortable today and able to pursue criminal charges, and the people they told would have taken it more seriously than they did back then. At least, his name would have been damaged during his height of celebrity, instead of at the end of his life, as we all would have known about it then with social media, et al.
I heard Whoopie this morning on the View go off on her defense again. While I agree with her that you are innocent of criminal charges until proven guilty. Doesn’t mean with all that has come out, and now some in his own words that we should want to see this guy in any sort of celebrity role. I do hope that some of them find a legal avenue now to pursue. Maybe some laws will change, and that could be the good to come out of this horrible story.
Whoopi never fails to make everything about her. I saw the clip and she made reference to time when Ted Danson did black face, understandably pissed people off and that she was judge for it. So instead of recognizing that 40 women were victims of a serial rapist, she turns it around and makes it all about HER and how awful it was when people didn’t like her sh!tty jokes.
I noticed that also. She made a reference to a group of people who pretty much smeared her good name in the 80’s. The 80’s! What does this have to do with the allegation about Cosby in this day in time? She’s a egomaniacal moron.
She might as well make the same argument about the KKK. Does she identify with Dylann Roof? No because she seems to defend the Hollywood elite.
What I don’t understand is that she claims Bill Cosby hasn’t been ‘found’ guilty, and yet Roman Polanski was – there is no doubt he did what he did, the courts were involved, etc. So she’s just changing the goalposts to justify her own opinions. Even if Cosby were found guilty, she would find another reason to keep championing him.
Yep.
I kind of understand Whoopi’s position of innocent till proven guilty, even though I think the newly released documents are pretty damning. But at the very least he cheated (i’m saying cheated here if we were to believe he didn’t sexually assault his victims) on his wife with numerous women and then paid them to keep quite all the while lecturing young people about being moral and having strong family values. Its just so astonishing, almost sociopathic. How can Whoopi defend that hypocrisy?
I was going to say the same – she isn’t defending Bill Cosby. She is defending the right for someone to be convicted of their crime before the law before everyone treats them as guilty. At no point does she say ‘he wouldn’t have done this’ (at least I hope not).
And I am glad there are more women coming forward and there is a case being built against him. I don’t mind one bit if he can’t work ever again. I think when there is significant evidence of guilt of something so bullying and abusing power that is hard to prove in a court of law, we the public can make judgement. That was jumbled, but really – the public can support the women when the courts can’t.
Personally, I think Cosby has had Camille drugged for decades too. She seems like she’s in her own personal lala land, giggling to herself in the corner.
Hollywood “doctors” will give you anything you want as long as you’re in the right circles. I suspect Camille has been in a sedated haze of denial for years.
The truth is 40 people saying something doesn’t make it so. It makes sense to reserve judgement. One doesn’t want to rush to judgement in a mob mentality. However, these women came forward one by one with nothing to gain and much to lose. And now there are 40. if I were Whoopi or Raven Simon I might say I had not experienced that with him and the situation was troubling to me. I don’t think I would defend or condemned.
Years ago may have been different. People took drugs and had sex. But this doesn’t seem to fall in that category as this seems not to be consensual. The women didn’t take the drugs with the intent to have sex with him. He seems to have abused a position of trust. I am sad that he can’t be tried in a court of law instead of the court of public opinion. Although perhaps the later is a harsher judgement to him.
Believe it or not, people today still take drugs and have sex. Times really haven’t changed.
The important part is always that it is consensual. An unconscious woman cannot consent.
@Susan 1
Here’s where I respectfully disagree with you. 40 is a lot of people and why do we automatically think that if it’s forty women, they must be wrong? If 40 people have come along to tell me there’s a storm coming, I’m going to check the Weather Network. If 40 people tell me there something wrong with the way Bill Cosby relates to women, I would turn my head to at least find out what happened. It’s a very unusual thing to have all these people saying the same thing and nothing is wrong. What would be their motive for lying? Can all these people have the same misunderstanding? It’s possible, but not likely. I’ve been on this earth long enough to know when something up, and guess what, something’s up.
An unconscious person cannot consent. As my Mom used to tell me, ‘You can’t be wrong and strong at the same time.’ Let us be decent to one another as human beings, instead of splitting hairs to be “right”.
As my Mom used to tell me, ‘You can’t be wrong and strong at the same time.’
Are you from the Caribbean HK9? My mom used to say that all the time too.
I can understand not wanting to rush to judgement, especially when the accused is someone you know and possibly care about. I can also get wanting to wait for more information, more facts, before believing the accusations. What I can’t understand is looking at the 40+ women, who have all told sadly similar stories, and now this under oath admittance, and STILL not being willing to say OK, there’s something to this. She isn’t reserving judgement, she just doesn’t want him to be guilty, and will twist it whatever way she can to meet that narrative in her head.
There has been a need to believe he IS his public image that has been at play here for decades, I think. Many people wanted to believe he was Cliff Huxtable.
So the victims have been fighting not only Bill Cosby and his fame, but a sort of universal American public wish to see him as a good, honorable man. That’s a powerful adversary that doesn’t come into play in most rape cases. They literally have been fighting him in the court of public opinion.
Whoopi will always support the rich, famous person for no other reason than they’re rich and famous. There could be video evidence and she would insist that it’s impossible to tell what’s really going on.
I don’t judge Camille Cosby, I feel desperately sorry for her. She has spent her entire adult life loving, trusting and supporting this man, bearing five of his children, he’s probably her best friend and the closest person she has in the world. Even if she knows the truth, she could never admit it, it would be too devastating. She’s in her seventies now, they’ve been together since she was 19. Of course she’s going to remain loyal to him, the Bill she knows and loves is not the man who did those things.
I feel that way about Camille too and her kids.
I’m not sure I agree with you. I think there’s a lot of evidence that Camille knew what was going on – stories by some of the women that they were taken back to Cosby’s home and thought it would be fine because Camille was there, then she “went to bed” and left her husband alone with them. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be hard for her to leave, but it was cowardly of her to stay. I think maybe being Mrs. Cosby was more important to her than anything else, including her husband being a rapist.
GNAT, I saw this in the comments yesterday. If true it’s sickening, and makes her pretty solidly complicit in the rapes. Perhaps that’s her thing? *washes brain out with soap* BLEUGH.
THIS. 100%. Cowardly as hell.
wow, hadn’t read that, utterly creepy
Yup–Carla Ferrigno, who is now married to Lou Ferrigno of the “Incredible Hulk,” basically described being pursued by a man and going on a double date with him and Bill and Camille back in the 1970s. When the four of them returned to Cosby’s house after a movie, her date and Camille both *mysteriously disappeared* before Bill tried to make a move on her. Luckily, she was able to get the heck out of there. I’m betting Bill had men picking up women for this very purpose–procurers–who could be called to testify. Plus, drug suppliers, personal assistants, etc. A considerable number of people (who might be under NDAs now) had to have kept his secrets or at least had suspicions. It starts to sound like human trafficking when he’s got third-parties involved in luring women to him.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2842678/Bill-Cosby-used-friend-court-wife-Incredible-Hulk-star-Lou-Ferrigno-set-comic-home-attacked-Camille-Cosby-left-room.html
I mean, she had Beverly Johnson on who talked about being drugged by him and Whoopi looked down her nose at her the whole time. Granted, she wasn’t raped, but the drugging would be enough for most people to put it together.
I have some sympathy for Raven. A sociopath like Cosby probably managed to maintain an act of being very kind to her as a child. She has a lot to work through.
Whoopi? She’s inexcusable.
Cosby had the whole world fooled didn’t he? These women were afraid to speak because they didn’t think anyone would believe them as Cosby was so “loved” by the public. His karma was bound to catch up with him. The victims must finally feel a bit of vindication knowing he admitted he bought those drugs with the intention of sedating women. Just shows you that you can never trust a person by their “public persona”… a lot of people are monsters behind closed doors.
Raven once said long ago that she doesn’t really remember much from her work on the Cosby show, she was just too young. Cosby probably was nice to her, so she doesn’t have any bad memory of it. But she really doesn’t have much memory of it at all except what people tell her. Her parents must have told her they were grateful to Cosby because he gave her that first acting opportunity.
Also, keep in mind if he is a serial rapist and, with 40 victims I would call him that, like a lot of criminals, he is charming and coerces them by his power and other means to come to him then he drugs them. He probably doesn’t attack or drug all the women he encounters either, and those who aren’t victims just see the charm.
Ever since she’s been on the view whoopi has seemed really dumb and annoying to me. Barbara too. They say the most nonsensical and pointless things. I don’t recognize the ladies on either side of raven and whoopi. But at one point the view was alright… Joy is fantastic, Rosie was at times funny, Lisa and star were entertaining, Elisabeth at least kind of had points although I never agreed with them they were less rambly and random than the stuff Barbara and whoopi say. Raven seems interesting (just from reading about her here) so maybe the view is on an upswing again.
Ever since Whoopi defended the rich guy who stole from his rich mother, and this poor woman was left in urine soaked garments all alone in fabulous apartments (the Brooke Astor story, and YES, that guy went to jail), I have had ZERO respect for her. I don’t understand how she says all this nonsense and still has a career.
the only surprise here is apatow chiming in with common sense. i don’t care for him but he definitely earned some respect from me.
whoopie -ugh. she’s a total c-u-next-Thursday.
+ 1000
If only he’d publicly denounce Woody Allen with the same amount of fervor.
I appreciate Judd Apatow’s comments on Cosby.
And I hope that one day Apatow will also speak out against his hero Woody Allen.
This.
It’s so sad that we can accept Cosby’s guilt because he’s not really in his heyday, bit we are handing out statues to Woody. Just sickening,
Yup!!!
Absolutely cosigned. I suppose it’s a prime example of how blinkered people can be when it’s one of their own heroes.
And also change the tone of his wildly successful sexist movies. “Amount of women” is a very telling phrase that he uses, to my mind anyway…
5/10 trolling. You forgot to mention bootstraps and how this is all Obama’s fault.
ETA: Oop, I guess someone’s comment just got deleted.
Ha! I saw and responded to that comment, so I get you.
LOL. Damn. Now I’m curious about the original comment…
Has anyone seen the documentary “What happened,Miss Simone?” Nina Simone suffered a breakdown while opening for Bill Cosby. I wonder if she was a victim of this monster.
Oh wow. I listened to the Grantland guys rave about the doc but haven’t yet seen it.
I saw that title somewhere last night. Is it on Netflix? Must watch now.
Yes, it’s on Netflix.
Yes, it’s showing up on Netflix as featured content. I’d really like to see it, I’d like to know more about her, and even more so now hearing the Cosby connection.
Yea just saw it on Netflix.
I wondered the same.
Cleanup on Aisle Celebitchy.
White supremacy? Check.
Rape apology? Check.
Borderline illiteracy? Check.
It’s like douchebag bingo up in here.
(Well, troll was baleeted before I posted, apparently!)
Really wish I saw th comment. It sounds hilariously ignorant, but glad it’s gone.
When the Cosby update was posted yesterday several posters commented ” que Whoopie to start the Cosby defense” and I thought no, that would be career suicide!
She needs to hobble off to a retirement home. Her thoughts are no longer relevant
Whoa there. Whoopie’s not defending Cosby because she’s old. She’s defending Cosby because she’s stupid.
No reason to equate older age with irrelevancy. Her comments are relevant because she’s on a (no longer very relevant) TV show and here we are, but they’re the gross and misguided comments that could be made by someone gross and misguided of any age.
it’s been several years since she said she does not believe the moon landing ever happened, the pictures were staged and all the astronauts are lying liars. she wasnt old then.
Whoopi says “Save your texts. Save your nasty comments. I don’t care.” That is literally the truth. She does not care. She’ll defend Cosby with her last breath. She’s wealthy, has an apparently endless supply of medical pot, and she doesn’t care about truth or logic. I honestly think she could witness Cosby raping an unconscious woman and come up with an excuse. She is ridiculous and he is an unrepentant rapist.
Ok, I agree with you but I don’t see what pot has to do with it.
God help me for agreeing with Apatow on anything.
It’s sickening, the “proof” people demand for sexual crimes. Whoopi has always been quite unhinged.
I know. If you’re robbed, people believe you when you say your bracelet is missing. Insurance company pays you, police work on the case, or sadly tell you you’ll probably not get it back. Nobody asks you for proof that something isn’t there. But if you’re raped, forget it. You better have a video. I read a statistic answering people who were worried about someone being falsely accused of rape – 97% of sexual assaults go completely unpunished.
I’m surprised he even made the statement. But then again he does have two growing daughters sooooo…….
I can’t be too upset with Raven, she’s known him since she was a child and like she said he’s responsible for her having the career she has. I appreciate that she’s never flat out defended him like Whoopie, it may take some time for her to really condem a big fixture of her life but it seeems it may happen. Whoopie however she is a vile, selfish, and horrible person.
Yeah….she usually annoys me with her idiocy but I think she’s in a really difficult spot here.
She has warped ideas of what constitutes rape and guilt. Who the eff defends Roman Polanksi?
Tilda Swinton and Stephen Frears just to name a few. A lot of people have defended Polanski.
also Natalie Portman, Johnny Depp, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Terry Gilliam, Michael Mann…
Well, that’s the end of my admiration for Tilda.
No Whoopi, he hasn’t “been proven” a rapist. Using your own terrible game of semantics, he has PROVEN HIMSELF to be a rapist, with his own confession, given under oath.
This coming from the woman who said what Roman Polanski did was not “rape rape.” It seriously makes me wonder how she has these warped views on rape. I genuinely used to like this woman before she was on the View.
The ratings on “The View” have been tanking for years. It’s time Walters and ABC put this daily to bed. As far as Whoopie goes, what else is there to be expected? So many things I agree with her in general on—this is most definitely NOT one of those.
And although we are all entitled to our own personal opinions- I am sorry- I cannot accept any sympathy towards Camille Crosby or Rashad for standing behind Cosby and branding victims as liars or implying they are just out to “ruin” Cosby’s reputation. As it is now becoming apparent, this type of abuse was going on for decades and for those two women to make public statements attempting to shame the victims was heartless, cruel and illegal, actually.
Whoopi—take a seat and shut your pie hole. Your show sucks and you are not helping things.
What is it about Whoopie Goldberg that she feels the need to defend sordid characters? Donald Trump, Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, Michael Vick…..as well as Bill Cosby? Part of me wonders if at one time or another she was a victim of some sort of abuse herself and developed an “if you can’t beat em join em” mentality.I I’ve seen where some victims will turn on other victims of abuse, probably internalizing that whatever happened to them was “their own fault” or in a poor attempt to bury their own trauma. They didn’t get the support they needed so why should other women/victims? Maybe this sounds like a stretch but I think there’s something wrong there.
i’ve been thinking that too
Rant Coming…
1st off… Proving rape is extremely difficult! Nearly everything a victim might say can be countered with the attacker claiming she wanted that. And when the cards are already stacked agained the accuser it takes little to sway opinions. People are already looking for a reason to blame the victim. Just to continuing feeling like it can’t happen to them.
Oh they wanted that.
Oh they put themselves in that situation.
Oh they’re just regretful or revenge/attention seeking.
And drugs wear off. IF the victim even gathers the strength to drag themselves out of bed or shower. IF they can bring themselves to remember the attack and go through each detail for a report. IF they can get through the exam with fears of STI’s or pregnancy, or damage. IF they can get through all of that it’s nothing compared to the public lashing they will get for daring to say that. Losing “friends”. Factors with family. A trial where you have to relive the whole thing with a bunch of people you don’t know.
And after all of that they might still walk. And you’re the person who claimed this on a person who was found innocent.
I remember someone telling me it was a silver lining of the injuries I got fighting back. Without those he might have walked and not had to be on the SOR. Is that really what it takes to “prove” the assault happened without your consent?
But hey. These ladies just want their 15 minutes.
End Rant.
Yup……the only consolation: even if Cosby NEVER sees a jail cell–his legacy is OVER. He will never be thought of in the same light again. He may live in the remaining luxuries he has but most circles don;t want him now. I can’t imagine going from being one of the most beloved people in the country to having zero respect or tolerance-esp in your old age.
Toni
That is something. Not enough imo, but something.
In this case of Whoopi I think she’s the loud minority. By majority people (imo) know what he did and want no part of him. They don’t have to yell it from the roof tops. They will show through actions of writing letters calling for his removal of places and refusing to associate with him in any way. That is happening too.
So, Whoopi can scream and shout all she likes. No one is listening and the View is tanking.
Not to make this seem light but the victims are not the only one who got burned by him. There are people who are losing income which is their livihood because of this clown. It is just awful and he is showing to be made of teflon. Even if he pays all the settlements, it will not put a dent in his lifestyle.
She’s either being pressured – a debt owed? or paid to defend him.
Innocent until proven guilty, in a court of law, is a right that no one should throw away, ever.
It may not mean much in this circumstance.
BUT, just look to countries where it is not a right. Look at the way the citizens are treated, women especially. Once people give up that right, for every person, every time (even Bill Cosby) it won’t come back.
It’s been said- the statute of limitations for sex crimes needs to be changed. That is the only way to help victims in a permanent, court of law the abuser goes to jail, way.
Original Kay
I do agree. the statute of limitations does need to be extended. While much evidence is gone within hours or days as technology evolves justice can be found. We just need the ability to file.
You know it’s a fixable flaw when it’s possible for a criminal to wait out a timer and then can admit fault, but be free.
What about these women’s right to be believed?
Whoopi and others who attempt to derail the conversation by making it about Cosby’s “presumed innocence” are trying to silence the voices of these women. It might not be intentional, but that is the indisputable result.
No one is asking for Cosby to give up any of his rights. Hell, he still has his freedom AND a legion of fans who insist on his innocence. What do these women have except for the humiliation, the emotional and physical scars that rape left behind?
Perfectly put.
Hitler never stood trial, either.
In certain circumstances the weight of the evidence is overwhelmingly in one direction.
Thanks for that.
You win!
I agree with innocent until proven guilty, and that means until or if he is found guilty in a court of law he doesn’t go to jail for a crime. It doesn’t mean I or other consumers want anything to do with his career or celebrity status or anything he is selling as his own admissions have hurt his status and legacy. A lot of people do want him in jail, but no one is saying throw him in jail without a trial.
Shame on these women. Whoopi is so stupid. Her idea of “proof” isn’t even possible. Even if she witnessed it herself, she would still come up with some bogus excuse that will rationalize defending him in her mind,
The problem with shows like this they freely give their opinions on anything and everything and are very quick to judge, so quick to say someone is guilty w/out having all the facts. When something hits close to them, ie someone they have a relationship/bond with, its all, “no comment” or “innocent until proven guilty”
Maybe Whoopie hangs out with too many lawyers. It’s like when I was a kid, I’ll admit it, I burned a garage down. By Whoopi’s reasoning, unless I went to court, I didn’t do it even if I admit that I did now as an adult.
I usually have no time for Apatow – but he’s pretty spot on with this. I’m just kind of curious what kind of ‘proof’ people like Whoopie need. The guy is 77 and seems a bit senile most of the time. While it’s not impossible that he’s still out there with his stash of rape drugs – I seriously doubt it.
So what does she want? She wants a trial where he is found guilty? Well – great – but for some idiotic reason there is this silly statute of limitation on the crimes. As if the fact that someone committed this crime 20 or 30 years ago makes it better. There is no such statute in the UK – and Bill Cosby would be in jail by now if he did this here.
Sit Whoopie and Raven with a handful of the victims – including Beverly Johnson. Have them tell them their stories face to face. Let’s see how they feel afterwards. And if they don’t get it then – make them sit and listen to all of them. I’m sure it would take all day, seeing as there are so many, but maybe then they’ll finally get it.
Lord, talk about “denial”. Sad.
He wanted his victims to “watch him eat” he’s like a sick imperial ruler. He likes the power he holds over these women. Whoopie just hates females. IMO even hates that she’s one herself.
I now officially hate her
Leave your messages on ABC.com..get rid of her..
I can see why Whoopie & Optah clashed. Starting to make some sense now.
Why famous people feel the need to publicly comment on people/situations that have no connection to them is sometimes baffling.
I’m done with Cosby. Done with Goldberg.
He’s a rapist. Call him monster, sociopath, evil…whatever you want. But call him what he really is- a rapist. I’ve noticed the media seems to avoid that word because it makes people uncomfortable. How do you think his victims feel? A lot more than uncomfortable, I can promise you that. Bill Cosby and Whoopi are beneath contempt.
Whoppi is a true racist.