35 of Bill Cosby’s alleged victims spoke to NYMag in an epic tell-all piece

Bill Cosby

Last night at 9pm EST, NY Magazine dropped an epic bombshell of an article. This is an astounding piece of investigative journalism. The magazine took six months to methodically research the story, which arrives a few weeks after Cosby’s own deposition revealed how he routinely drugged and sexually assaulted women. If anything can make Camille Cosby see the truth, this article will do the trick. I’m not optimistic about Camille ever changing her opinion, but this article is huge and will carry long-lasting effects.

NYMag interviewed 35 of Cosby’s victims, including model Beverly Johnson (who wrote her own powerful essay last year). All of these women allowed themselves to be photographed and described Cosby’s predatory behavior. They were interviewed separately, yet their stories are startlingly similar and speak of Cosby rendering them powerless with pills. The full piece is incredibly graphic but deserves to be read in full.

(Note: Looks like the NYMag may have been hacked, or they’re having server issues. You can read the piece without photos right here.)

A few excerpts:

“At 17, my agent introduced me to Bill Cosby, who was going to mentor me and take me to the next level of my career. Over the course of the next year, I was drugged half the time when I was with him and would come out of a delusional experience going, ‘Whoa, what was that?’ He would say, ‘Well, I needed to undress you and wash your clothes because you got drunk and made a fool of yourself.’ Do you remember the Jaycee Dugard story? She pretty much could have climbed over the fence any time she wanted to but was just so broken down and couldn’t think straight. I felt like a prisoner; I felt I was kidnapped and hiding in plain sight. I could have walked down any street of Manhattan at any time and said, ‘I’m being raped and drugged by Bill Cosby,’ but who the hell would have believed me? Nobody, nobody. I was invited down to Atlantic City to see his show and had a very confusing night where I was completely drugged and my luggage was missing. When I called the concierge to find out where my luggage was, Cosby went ballistic. He slammed the phone down and said, ‘What the hell are you doing, letting the whole hotel know I have a 19-year-old girl in my hotel suite?’ The next morning, he summoned me down to his room and yelled at me that I needed to have discretion. He threw me down on the bed and he put his forearm under my throat. He straddled me, and he took his belt buckle off. The clanking of the belt buckle, I’ll never forget.” – Barbara Bowman

“People often these days say, ‘Well, why didn’t you take it to the police?’ Andrea Constand went to the police in 2005 – how’d it work out for her? Not at all. In 2005, Bill Cosby still had control of the media. In 2015, we have social media. We can’t be disappeared. It’s online and can never go away.” – Tamara Green

[from NYMag]

I included the second excerpt because it illustrates how Cosby can no longer manipulate the media. He tried twice in the past six months, but the jig is up for Bill Cosby.

Some additional Cosby news:

* Cosby reportedly obtained his massive stash of Quaaludes from a gynecologist. Why was Cosby visiting this type of doctor? The Washington Post did some digging and found out how LeRoy Amar was known as “a Hollywood prescriber.” Cosby says he requested the pills for “a bad back,” of course.

* Spelman College — a prestigious, historically black women’s college — has cut all ties with Cosby. They discontinued their William and Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Endowed Professorship, which was funded by a $20 million donation from Bill. They’re going to return the unused portion of money to Cosby. He can use it to pay his lawyers.

Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby

Photos courtesy of WENN

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156 Responses to “35 of Bill Cosby’s alleged victims spoke to NYMag in an epic tell-all piece”

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  1. lisa2 says:

    That cover is unprecedented.

    And seeing them all together like that is such a statement of how perverse his abuse was.

    and it is so hard to even look at a picture of him.

    • Alex says:

      I agree looking at the cover was hard….
      …even harder was remembering how many people called them every name in the book as if 45 people with the same story must be liars

      • minx says:

        They were all in black on the cover. Very striking.
        On the inside, in each closeup picture, they were all wearing white or very pale gray (if memory serves–I read it late last night).
        I was immediately struck by that–it gave each of them a look of purity, truth and honesty. When you looked up close at these pictures you couldn’t help but believe them.

      • Alex says:

        I agree it is really striking. Kudos that they gave the victims a chance to speak on a major platform

      • belle de jour says:

        @minx: the cover was elegiac, wasn’t it? Yet there they are inside – not dead or silenced yet – representing their truth and the truth.

        Good on the NYMag staff for using the art & possibilities & impact of ferocious, dignified editorial photography.

      • minx says:

        belle de jour–yes, they were dignified. They were dressed and photographed in a beautiful, simple, elegant way. Very well done.

    • Liberty says:

      Bravo to NYMag.

      • joan says:

        NY’s website is down so I didn’t see if Beverly Johnson, the iconic black model, is in it.

        She claimed he tried to drug her and groped her but she was able to get to a cab. Her credibility is so solid because she was in the spotlight for decades as the first or one of the first black superodels, and she’s always carried herself with so much dignity and been so classy.

        So if she says that, it supports everyone who he knocked out and assaulted.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      The cover really is a powerful image. Props to NYMag for making such an impact and for helping these women tell their stories.

      • Cannibell says:

        Bravo to Spelman College. May I suggest sending them some money replace the $20 million donation it’s returning to the Cosby’s? Historically Black Colleges haven’t had the kinds of endowments and funding streams white institutions have had. This is an amazingly important and bold thing for Spellman to do.

      • K says:

        That’s a really, really good idea.

        EDITED: I just went to their website, and you can make a one-off donation here: http://www.spelman.edu/giving

      • Cannibell says:

        Thanks, K! I found that out last night when I made my donation – it was really easy. And it wasn’t a lot (I’m about to be laid off, and even I weren’t, I don’t have $20 million laying around), but truly, even a small amount from all of us will add up. Also, it sends some kind of message to Spellman and the women in this story, and countless others (me included) who’ve been sexually mishandled at some point in their lives.

    • TeaAndSympathy says:

      Lisa2, I’ve never been a fan, but I don’t know many other Aussies who were – not like his American fans, anyway. I can’t look at him either. My sister was married for 39 years to a horrible, abusive creep. 20 years ago, our mum told her that he’d groped me “down there” while I was 7 months pregnant. It was not the first time. My husband was in the room, but had his back to me. I calmly turned around, picked up the large knife my mother had been using to cut some potatoes, and said, “Touch me again and I will run this knife through your guts. I won’t pull it out until I see the point come out of your back.” My husband calmly stood up, grabbed the BIL by the arm marched him outside. I never found out exactly what was said, but before he died, my husband told me he regretted not “taking him out fishing”.

      Some years ago, my sister caught her husband touching their 4 year old granddaughter inappropriately. That was the end. She threw him out, and opened up the biggest can of worms – and repercussions which are still felt today.

      She borrowed my book about the child sexual molester, rapist and murderer Fred West, and when she returned it, the book had a thick, brown paper cover on it, as she couldn’t bear to see his face. I think a lot of people feel the same way about Cosby now.

      I will definitely read this NYMag report. Well done to these brave, tenacious women for not allowing his wealth, fame and power to silence them.

      • Nicole says:

        Nothing but <3 to you and your family.

      • Kori says:

        That’s really horrible about your BIL. But I love your response about gutting him–kudos to you for not being cowed or afraid to rock the boat. Predators like that rely on people keeping quiet for those reasons or embarrassment.

    • Neil says:

      Reminds me of a picture I once saw about the carnage your average domestic cat leaves behind it. Love them but I also like birds.

  2. Jib says:

    Jeez, this whole story makes me sad. I always thought he was such a good guy. But worse is how he used that “good guy” image to rape and then shut these women down. What the heck???

    You never know what a person is like. Scary.

    • Tate says:

      It is scary. I am glad these women are finally being heard and believed. I can’t imagine what it has been like for them to carry this with them all of these years.

      • Lisa says:

        I don’t’ know how many went to the police, but study after study shows most police officers believe the vast number of women who claim to have been raped are liars. Also, unless she’s beaten there is no real proof she didn’t want it.

      • FLORC says:

        Lisa

        It’s been found that the victims will lie. Not because it didn’t happen, but because they need to be believed. They will add details to remove doubt. To make things more certain. And they’re not always aware they’re doing it. It’s a defense mech for survival and safety. Not malicious intent to lie about rape.

        And it makes me sick, but I was told it was a silver lining I was beaten during the attack. It’s harder to overlook that and the claims “she wanted it rough” or other nonsense doesn’t make sense with hallmarks of defending yourself against violence. That THAT is what it takes to be believed by many makes me sick.

        Tate
        Isn’t that awful? to have that happen and then not be believed or to be attacked for saying what you know is truth… Ugh.

      • Anna says:

        @Lisa: Just because the police believe a victim is lying doesn’t mean it’s accurate. As recently as ten years ago, police officers were trained that a rape victim should be visibly crying and upset, and if the victim was not visibly upset, they were lying about the attack. Now we understand more about how humans respond to trauma, but it’s scary to think how many UNEDUCATED people make assumptions about rape victims.

      • TeaAndSympathy says:

        FLORC, I’m so sorry that happened to you. I hope you are travelling well now. Hugs.

        A few years ago, my daughter was called up for jury duty. She was selected as a panelist in what turned out to be a rape trial. It became so vicious that the jurors were threatened and followed back to their cars within days of the trial beginning. They refused to continue until something was done. Every day after that, for four weeks, they were given a location of where to park their cars. At a set time, a court sheriff would arrive in a 4WD to pick them up and take them to the court house, where they were escorted through the back entrance. When the day was over, they’d be driven back to their cars.

        The victims was a 17 year old girl, who’d been raped by a 21 year old boy – a boy she considered “a friend”, as she had previously known him and had a crush on him – and his four friends. My daughter said she was mostly in tears during the trial, and that the accused and his supporters often stared her down, smirked at her, made throat-cutting gestures when they made eye contact. Several were eventually removed from the court room. The accused was eventually found guilty.

        About a year later, the victim tracked my daughter down on Facebook. After assuring herself that it really was the girl in question, my daughter spoke to her. The girl told my daughter that because of the same antics her rapists pulled with jurors, the trial had been aborted twice before, and she fully expected that the final one would also not go ahead. When it did, she expected that they’d be found not guilty, so was gobsmacked when the leader wasn’t, and after only 2.5 hours deliberation. She said she’d often looked at my daughter sitting with other jury members, hoping to make a connection because my daughter was the youngest juror, and wanted to thank my daughter for helping to put the guy away.

        It’s just horribly mind-boggling what rape and sexual assault victims have to go through in order to get some justice. I can’t believe that in 2015 so many people – women, men, police officers etc – still have the mentality that the victim is lying, or worse, “she probably asked for it” .

        I’m surprised Cosby hasn’t had his head knocked off by now. As for his wife… I reckon she knows exactly what her husband is, and has done, but I think he treats her horribly, too, yet she is not prepared to give up the status or wealth – possibly because of her age?

        His reputation is ruined forever. No damage control can ever fix this. Hopefully, his wealth will also dwindle and disappear, either because these women are awarded some form of financial compensation, or because the lawyers take it while he tries to prevent paying compensation.

      • K says:

        @Lisa, the horrible thing is that studies also consistently show that one in 20 guys will freely admit to having raped, in anonymous surveys, as long as you describe the behaviour and never use the word. Several will admit to having raped lots of women.

        So police consistently don’t believe women are raped that often, while rapists admit to doing it extremely frequently, just as long as nobody calls it rape.

        Someone needs to talk to the police about those anonymous surveys. And join the dots for them.

  3. mkyarwood says:

    Heh, nice one finding a pic with him and Elmo.

  4. tracking says:

    Extraordinary. It makes me so happy that these women are being heard.

  5. Lama Bean says:

    The header photo in the article is so striking. It’s a magnificent piece. I could only make it through three stories before I had to stop because my heart was breaking for those women. Their strength in coming forward even now is amazing.

    • TeaAndSympathy says:

      Lama Bean, I haven’t read the report yet, but fear I’m not going to be able to get through it, either. These women….aaah…such bravery. My heart jolts every time I think about them.

  6. Kate says:

    I applaud NY Magazine for its bravery and for the women who agreed to be a part of the article. It’s a tough thing to do, coming forward. Six months of research makes this article airtight and indisputable. Seems no doubt now that Cosby no longer has the media on his side.

    What a powerful image on the cover…all those women lined up together. Talk about strength in numbers.

    I know this is unlikely to happen but I wish Camille Cosby would respect herself and open her eyes and admit to the horrors that she and her husband caused. I know she is of the mind that she helped make Bill into the “success” he is (was) but her complicity in his disgusting actions makes me sick.

    • RUDDYZOOKEEPER says:

      Surely her complicity at this point is criminal.

      • Livvers says:

        Yes. It’s nice (I guess) that people are giving Camille the benefit of the doubt about why she is unable to comprehend her husband’s actions, but maybe she is just a despicable person who just doesn’t care about the harm her husband caused.

      • Wren says:

        Either that or she is so deeply in denial there is no way out. Remember this man is a master manipulator with a powerful personality, incredible wealth, and (until recently) overwhelming public goodwill. Camille is either his accomplice or yet another one of his victims, albeit in a different capacity. If the latter, he’s been controlling her for years.

    • bananapanda says:

      Three daughters. There are THREE Cosby daughters out there.

      • FingerBinger says:

        He has 4 daughters.

      • cherylr says:

        He may have 5 daughters. He paid 100k to stop a paternity, then had the young woman sent to jail when she tried to change the terms as an adult.

        He doesn’t acknowledge her, but she looks just like him.

      • Jib says:

        My friend knows his daughters – she went to school with a couple of them and she is Facebook friends with them still. My friend said they are the nicest, least pretentious, kindest girls she went to school with – and yet, they are all in denial about what their father did, as well.

        I think to some extent, as a survival mechanism, we find it very difficult to believe the worst about those we love. We just can’t fathom it. Think of “regular” cheating spouses and how many men and women HAVE to know – they just have to, or they’re deaf and blind. But when it comes out, they’re shocked!! Denial is very, very powerful and try to dismantle it at your peril. You’ll lose any friend if you try to convince her that her guy is cheating.

        There’s an excellent study in there somewhere for a psych student.

  7. Skyblue says:

    I really can’t think of a comment that could in any way convey how sick he makes me. Damn him.

    • WinnieCoopersMom says:

      Agreed. I think many of us feel nauseous at the sight of him.

    • Wren says:

      Every time I try and think up an appropriate term, it is woefully inadequate.

    • FLORC says:

      Yes to you all. He’s evil and then some.
      On other threads the term hate is used. I think it’s incoorectly tossed around everywhere, but here. Hate seems accurate enough.

  8. NewWester says:

    The sad thing is that even after reading this article in NY Magazine, Bill Cosby will still have people defending him. Cosby’s empire is starting to crumble bit by bit along with his reputation
    That photo of Cosby in the orange shirt and legs spread is just horrific

    • Christin says:

      The one time he actually dressed up in recent years, and he cannot even sit properly. He did many of his solo shows at prestigious places, yet would dress like he was taking out the garbage on Saturday morning.

      Someone I know went to a meet and greet a few years ago, and was photographed in their suit with BC in grey sweatshirt and sweatpants. I gave him a pass at the time, thinking perhaps he had some type of health issues. Now I think he just has that type of no-f’s to give, massive ego.

  9. Pinky says:

    It’s exactly what I thought should be done–get them all up on stage at once to emphasize the sheer volume and different faces of the victims. This gives them impact and more power than appearing intermittently, one by one, with their stories. Right there, by way of their numerous faces, is the decades-long narrative, though incomplete and only partially told.

    • tracking says:

      +1

    • Kitten says:

      +2

    • Wren says:

      Especially in this day and age of posting multiple times under different names. These are not a select few people trying to bring Cosby down, these are dozens of women with the same horrific story spanning decades. These are real people, they all have faces.

    • Trashaddict says:

      It’s probably a victory but it’s also somehow kind of sad that it takes so MANY women all saying the same thing, for even one of them to be believed. The implication being, well they can’t all be loose women, they can’t all make up consistent lies, etc. etc. It’s the same old thing women experience all the time, saying something is true but not having it be true until someone else affirms it. The Cosby issue. That idea you had at the meeting which was ignored at the time but became viable when your male colleague suggested it. The constant interruptions women commentators endure in the media. The culture continues to accept this daily in small ways which allows men like this to abuse others in big ways. I am sick to death of it.

  10. J says:

    FYI the magazine’s website crashed not to long after the story went up. People are paying attention, but as one of the women pointed out it is insane that 30 women were ignored for decades until a man said something.

  11. littlemissnaughty says:

    I’m sure by now everything there is to say about this has been said. But every time I now see this a**hole’s face, I get angry as hell. At everyone involved who protected him, looked away, and actively tried to keep these women silent. And of course at him for ruining so many women’s lives in such a heinous way. And in a purely selfish way for ruining my childhood memories of The Cosby Show. I loved that show to death and frankly, still do. Only now, I can’t touch the DVDs, I would probably vomit. What a horrible human being.

    It’s great that these women get to tell their stories; listening to them is the least we can do.

  12. jessiebes says:

    The cover of the NYmag is very powerful. Sent shivers down my spine.

    As for Bill Cosby. Words can’t describe this wicked rapist.

  13. Mia4S says:

    This is what journalism should be. Also there will be other offenders in Hollywood so go to work New Yorker, it’s time to change and tear this apart.

    Small comfort but I am so happy he is alive to be ruined and shamed and to witness the destruction of his legacy (unlike, say, Jimmy Saville…may he burn in hell).

    • Adrien says:

      Yeah. But Nymag profiled Uncle Terry last year and painted him as a troubled artist. They gave him a platform and left the readers to decide if he is a predator or an artist. I guess it’s safer to go with this issue now after the deposition was released and no one is defending Bill anymore (except his wife and Whoopie). Richardson is still very powerful and influential.

      • Jayna says:

        This article took six months to write and research and do the interviews until ready for publication. How would that have anything to do with the deposition being released very recently? It’s not like they just whipped this article up after the depo was released.

      • Kitten says:

        This. While I agree with Mia’s overall sentiment, it’s important to not confuse the New Yorker, a highly-respectable publication that is very dear to my heart, with New York magazine, a periodical that has the dubious distinction of being a Terry Richardson apologist.

  14. Snazzy says:

    The belt buckle part at the of her statement is petrifying

    • kri says:

      Snazzy- I read that sentence and got sick to my stomach. It makes me wonder about how far he went in his threats when the old” I can ruin your career” failed to scare someone. And I will say it again-I want to know who aided and abetted him. Because trust this-he had help, and not just the gyno who gave him his drugs, but others.

      • Imqrious2 says:

        I’d bet my last dollar there were *pimps* out there in the form of agents (as the very first line in the excerpt states: “My agent introduced me…”), casting agents, and producers/directors (who knew what was going on in his dressing room). My bro-in-law is a writer/producer, and when his show was on the air, you can bet he knew EVERYTHING that was going on, on set and backstage, with the crew AND the actors.

        I remember reading (here in a CB article) that one set aide said everyone knew what was going on in Cosby’s room in downtime (Uggggh, makes me nauseous to even type his name!).

      • Kori says:

        I’d look to the Playboy mansion for a start. Bill has hung around there for DECADES. I always thought it weird that no one seemed to think it was strange for someone with his reputation to be hanging out where drugs and orgies were acknowledged as commonplace. But I think some really ugly stuff went down there. And Holly Madison references Hefner and qualuudes in her book–‘thigh openers’ he called them. It would seem like birds of a feather flock together.

    • Stephanie says:

      That sentence literally took my breath away. I hope these women get some type of closure and peace.

  15. Abby says:

    I’ve not been able to get the NYmag piece to come up–tried several different avenues and links. Is their site down for anyone else?

  16. Ellie says:

    This really must’ve broken the internet, because I can’t access NYMag.com right now at all!

  17. Tracy says:

    Just to clarify the “Bill Cosby has never been charged with any of these ‘alleged rapes’ statements. This is true, but it is because the statute of limitations prohibits any litigation. Know that.

  18. Isa says:

    I wish they wouldn’t give him the money back. I wish they would use it to help victims of sexual assault. Of course, they may be legally bound to use the funds for the scholarship or return it. I still think it would be better to continue the scholarship than to give him more money for his lawyers.

    • embertine says:

      While I agree, Isa, I think they legally have to as the money will have been designated for the scholarship. I actually think that’s what makes it so powerful; the scholarships are desperately needed but they just cannot bring themselves to keep his money. Particularly as the young women going to Spelman are exactly the age that Cosby seems to have enjoyed preying upon.

  19. Stellainnh says:

    I am so bothered by what Bill Cosby did. As a child, my siblings and I used to listen to his comedy records all the time. We used to watch the Fat Albert cartoons every Saturday morning. I really looked up to him.

    Now I am horrified that he used his good standing to hurt and take advantage of women. Using drugs to subdue and render another human being completely helpless is an act of perversion. He is a horrible human being.

    • Pinky says:

      I had the same experience with the records and the shows, etc. now what do you do with those positive feelings? Where do you put the reality you once knew, the hope you once had that was built on top of lies. I think we need a support group for the disillusioned?

      • Stellainnh says:

        A support group for the disillussioned…interesting idea. It is really terrible when parts of one’s childhood becomes shattered by other’s bad behavoir or with this, the smoke and mirrors crash down.

  20. Jenns says:

    The very idea that one man can put fear in this many women, preventing them from coming forward for years, all because he was an actor on a popular TV show, is absolutely vile.

    This proves how women are treated in this world when it comes to sexual assault.

    • noway says:

      +1 I really hope something good comes out of this entire debacle, and the way sexual assault victims are treated changes dramatically in the US.

    • dontgiveuptheship says:

      +1,000,000. Or women generally, in anything. How objectified are we just walking down the street, how is our worth/contributions measured by how we attractive we are? Unacceptable! I think someone over on Jezebel said it first but we need a 3rd wave of feminism here and ALL of us need to get off the bench.

  21. Frosty says:

    Although I think Bill Cosby would have been sexual predator even had he not become a huge star, I feel like sexual assault is systemic in entertainment and that many victims stay quiet because they are afraid for their career too. It’s like whistleblowing. And btw why is it that Hugh Hefner always seems to get a pass, yet he’s often in the mix, somehow, some way.
    This story cycled out of the news pretty quickly, but look at Jackie Fox’s case — that last paragraph killed me.
    http://ultimateclassicrock.com/runaways-jackie-fuchs-kim-fowley-rape-joan-jett/

  22. Crumpet says:

    None of those NY Magazine links will resolve for me. However, it sounds like the final nail in Cosby’s coffin. Thank God and good riddance. May we never be so hoodwinked again.

    • MelissaManifesto says:

      Same issue here with the links.

    • Brittney B says:

      It was a hacker.

      The reasons are nauseating and nonsensical, too. I hope they get this fixed soon. These women deserve this moment.

  23. MelissaManifesto says:

    I can’t access the link. Does anyone have a correct one or maybe too many people are trying to read it?

  24. lucy2 says:

    I can’t get on the site either, but just from these excerpts, I’m so impressed with the bravery of these women, and so sorry it took so long for them to be heard. I hope they find strength and support with each other.

  25. lisa2 says:

    I like what Joseph C. Phillips said.. he played the son-in-law on The Cosby Show.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joseph-c-phillips-on-bill-cosby-and-character/

    • jwoolman says:

      The comments to the cbs story are full of people who didn’t understand what Phillips was saying. They kept thinking he was excusing Cosby’s behavior and even bizarrely accusing Phillips of being a closet rapist because of that, even though Phillips made it clear here and in his blog that he believes the charges. He specifically asked a friend about her experiences with Cosby, and she told him what Cosby did to her – she’s a non-public victim, so you know this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Phillips is just pointing out the real struggle people have trying to deal with Cosby’s criminal behavior while also knowing about the good things he’s done (especially if they personally benefitted). If you want to understand why people who knew Cosby in other contexts weren’t leaping to condemn him – that’s why. They had to wait for irrefutable evidence because they knew other aspects of him that didn’t match that picture to them. That doesn’t mean they were condoning rape. The sad thing is that Cosby’s criminal activity is indeed and inevitably tainting any good he has done, and everybody else involved in his projects such as the tv shows.

    • Kori says:

      I saw him interviewed on CNN. He said it was common knowledge that Cosby was a womanizer. But he didn’t realize the darker side until a woman he knew who’d guested (?) on the show told him her experience. They sat together for like an hour while she told him. He offered support and she was surprised (but relieved) that he believed her given his reputation and the fact that she was one individual saying this. He told her that she wouldn’t have sat there so long and so obviously distressed just to spin a false story. He said he never doubted the truth of her story for a minute.

  26. Pondering thoughts says:

    I congratulate the women coming out with their stories. I hope they are well and get better.

    Perhaps it would be nice if everybody had the right to videotape any kind of job interview and audition and then be allowed to use such tapes to sue for selected cases like discrimination and sexual harrassment and some kind of threats. One could even think about banning the tabloid publication of these special types of videos for privacy reasons. Else things like the casting couch will never cease to exist.

  27. Kiddo says:

    This didn’t happen in a vacuum. Think of all the enablers, along the way. The pay-offs, the behind the scene whisperers, the drug suppliers, the model agency (ies?).

    http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/model-ties-risky-day-bill-cosby-agency-leak-article-1.2029365

    “Scotti also claimed that a New York City modeling agency would send women to Cosby’s dressing room, some of whom Scotti claims were as young as 16. “‘I want you to keep that one girl here,’ ” Scotti recalled Cosby telling him, with Cosby claiming it was to discuss a role on the show. “Then he’d tell me, ‘Stand outside the door and don’t let anyone in.’ ” He added that Cosby had him find an apartment for one model from the agency.
    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbc-employee-claims-bill-cosby-751533

    http://gawker.com/bill-cosby-asked-an-agency-to-supply-him-with-broke-ou-1719762901

    • embertine says:

      Exactly, Kiddo. When all the stuff came out about Jimmy Saville, it became clear that literally HUNDREDS of people if not thousands had known about it over the years, and had either kept it quiet or had been pressured by the higher-ups to do so.

      I mean, he once had staff at an actual HOSPITAL put aside a room for him so that he could molest teenage girls in it. That’s actual medical staff, at least some of whom must have known what was going on. Cosby is exactly the same – he may be the predator but I guarantee there will be dozens of others and a vast network of enablers.

      • Kiddo says:

        Cosby setting up meetings with financially strapped models in the 80s; Like the agency didn’t know what he was up to? (think about Jeffrey Epstein) And this shit continues today. How is it Terry Richardson still gets work? And why don’t these assfaces just contact prostitutes? I’m not advocating for prostitution, to be clear. I’m just making a point that there is something creepily deviant about these guys knowingly picking unsuspecting naive and youngish types to inflict their will on, when they could have hired professionals who knew the drill, and knew what they were there for. There is an element of enjoyment in creating humiliation on victims.

      • Sixer says:

        Exactly, Kiddo. He asked a model agency to send him girls who were a) out of town and b) broke. And they did, without a second thought. As Embertine says, we Brits are getting strong whiffs of Jimmy Savile here.

      • Kiddo says:

        Didn’t they ever do a post arrangement interview with any of these girls and women? Didn’t they ever wonder why so many didn’t move on to be the next big thing? Come on, the all powerful Cosby is looking for ‘talent’ and never finds any where they are elevated to star status?

        Or were they (the agency) quite content at either directly knowing what was going on, or at least suspecting what was going on, provided they were getting paid for this model ‘traffic’?

      • frisbeejada says:

        This has been going on for years in the wonderful world of showbiz, not just Jimmy Saville but a couple of other well loved ‘family entertainers’ in the UK have gone to prison for crimes committed over decades. Cosby won’t be the only one surrounded by enablers prepared to throw them young, vulnerable girls. I just hope it gives more recent victims of these b*stards the courage to come forward and get some convictions. Like Sixer and embertine I’m finding too many parallels with Saville in all of this and it’s making me feel sick to my stomach.

      • Sixer says:

        Kiddo – clearly, they just didn’t care. If it follows the British model, there will be multiple nauseating denials and pleas of ignorance delivered by various PR bots wearing their “shocked” faces.

        Frisbeejada – what with Savile and his various enablers, who included the NHS for crissakes, and then discovering that it’s ok to have to paedophiles throughout the corridors of power because the secret services use the crimes as political leverage – well, I despair. Why we get so exercised about Billy Cambridge being a predictable waster when all this is happening, I don’t know.

      • frisbeejada says:

        @ Sixer ‘Normal Bill’ is indeed the tip of the iceberg in terms of the sense of entitlement these people have but he’s a very visible member of the ‘elite’ strata of society that are deeply hypocritical and entirely self serving. We get exercised over Normal Bill because he’s f*cking the country over in plain sight and we can call him out on that (thanks to social media at least we can talk about it). Others have been doing in secret for donkey’s years without censure or restraint. The good thing about this is that if it all comes out then it might serve to change attitudes. I say ‘might’ more in hope than expectations. We need an absolute sea change in societies attitudes towards women for a start because that’s where all this stems from (as @ dontgiveuptheship – amongst others – has already pointed out) the objectification of women to the point that too many are still being treated as throw away commodities by the like of Cosby et al because they can, because for too long it’s been considered ‘normal’ or expedient to let these ‘sacksofsh*tandcompletewasteofhumanorgans’ get away with it.

    • Frosty says:

      @kiddo – what’s frustrating about NY Magazine, for me, is they’ve been dedicated in pursuing the Cosby story, yet also published a long apologia for Terry Richardson.

      • Starrywonder says:

        Thank you!

      • Kiddo says:

        Interesting and appalling, thanks Frosty. Add the mag to the series of enablers for this type of behavior. Cognitive dissonance at not seeing the same in their golden haired child of NY?

      • Pinky says:

        Yup. Not to mention their defense of good ol’ Woody.

      • Kiddo says:

        Kitten, above, has said that people are confusing New York mag with The New Yorker.

  28. Brittney B says:

    Is anyone else getting an error message when you try to view the article? I tried the NY Mag’s homepage too; it’s a dead link. Maybe the massive influx of traffic shut down the servers… I hope it’s back up, and soon. I saw the cover last night, and you’re right… it’s incredibly powerful and unprecedented. Everyone needs to see it.

    • Brittney B says:

      Oh no… it was a HACKER… unrelated to the cover story, apparently; just a horrible racist who wants to silence New Yorkers? It all seems highly suspect. Way to rob these women of their voices yet again.

  29. Little Darling says:

    I personally think Cosby himself is up to why the page won’t load. Call me crazy but it’s waaaaaaay too suspect to me that this man who has silenced women over these years suddenly has a huge story about him “hacked” so that it can’t be seen or read? Yeah right.

  30. Sarah says:

    Bedhead seriously – do you really think Camille doesn’t know? The woman isn’t stupid. As she said “I made him. We will fix this.” If she dumps him – no fixing. She’s protecting her investment at this point. She’s as complicit as he is. She’s always known he was a philanderer. I’ve no doubt at all that she knows exactly what kind of POS she’s married to and has known for years.

    • Bedhead says:

      I never said Camille didn’t know. In the linked story, I make my thoughts on her pretty clear. She’s willfully blind at best.

      • Kiddo says:

        Isn’t it entirely possible that she is a victim as well? She may be, like birds of a feather, similar to Bill in wanting her societal stature and money at all costs, but she could be someone who was brainwashed and went through long-term exposure of psychological abuse. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, based on the type of personality Cosby has now been painted to be.

      • Sarah says:

        I read “this might make Camille see the truth” as indication that you didn’t think she believed it. I think she does believe it and just doesn’t give a damn.

      • Mrs. Wellen-Mellon says:

        If the story in the article of Lisa(?) Moritz is true, then Mrs. Cosby has known for decades, in my opinion. In the story, Moritz, Mr. and Mrs. Cosby, and Moritz’s date play pool, then Mrs. Cosby leaves, then the date leaves and Bill Cosby and Ms. Moritz are alone together.

        And this was an early one.

      • Kori says:

        And she’s not the only one. At least one other (Karla Ferrigno?) had the same story about Camille being present and then absenting herself at which point the attack begins. I think there are some seriously messed up dynamics in that marriage but I don’t feel much sympathy. I mean, she has daughters! Even if she didn’t know rape was going on–just cheating–what message did she send? Allow someone to treat you with disrespect or being an attacker as long as the money and position are there?

  31. Missa says:

    When I think about how many decades this went on for, I can’t help but wonder how many of his victims are no longer with us, and will never see any justice, delayed as it might be.

    • WinnieCoopersMom says:

      Exactly!! Some may be deceased or incapable of coming forward so many years after the fact. His whole career is a sham. He needs to suffer for the remainder of his days and in afterlife.

    • PennyLane says:

      Not that we’ll ever know, but given that Cosby was doing this to so many women over the decades, it seems likely that at least once one of these women had a ‘bad reaction’ and didn’t come out of it. He was dosing people without their knowledge and with powerful, powerful drugs, and granted they were young and healthy…but people have heart conditions, they have diabetes, they have congenital liver disorders that make it difficult to break down medications in the bloodstream….it’s horrifying to consider the potential outcome.

      Obviously I don’t know if that happened (and I doubt we will ever find out about it if it did) but given how many dozens of times Cosby did this, it seems very probable that one time he ‘overdid’ it on the dosage or the girl had some preexisting condition and she never made it out of the almost-coma he put her in.

      Given the law of averages, when Cosby was doing this to people, at least one time things could have gone very, very, very wrong and the young woman never woke up again. I don’t know if that ever happened but given the situations being described by these women about how after only one or two sips they were losing consciousness – what if the girl was nervous and wanted to please him and even though it tasted horrible she drank the entire thing? What then?

      • Northern_Girl20 says:

        I’m thinking the same thing. There are so many victims that we know about. What about the ones we don’t know about. Statistically speaking or had to happen at least once. And if no one died than he was very very lucky.

  32. WinnieCoopersMom says:

    This guy is a predator in celebrity clothing. And how scary to think of the brainwashing after reading that statement above, the victim thinking it was something wrong SHE was doing. Consider the lifetime of anguish and misery brought to these women’s lives, the turmoil brought to their families because of his sickness. The statute of limitations should have loopholes for individuals like this who are truly monsters still living among us and not behind bars. I hope this story and related coverage continues to escalate. He has ruined the lives of so so many women, and I would imagine there are even more who simply do not feel comfortable coming forward. He deserves every bit of this public crucifixion and even more. I hope his wife puts him on blast publicly and leaves him, the final nail in his coffin. He needs to feel pain and remorse with no relief. Sick sick sick person. If this was regular Joe Blow off the street, there would be a way to get him off the streets.

    • Ruyana says:

      Yes, I don’t think he has suffered nearly enough. My brother told me he heard an interview of a housemother type at the Playboy mansion. She said there were many more women, hundreds at the Mansion alone, who would not come forward. Cosby is an extremely vile subhuman. Every single one of the victims should be given the opportunity to punch him as hard as they can, with a hammer.

      • Kiddo says:

        Again, I think there is blame to be spread around, there, at the Playboy mansion.

      • Kori says:

        Agreed–I said the same upthread. There is some real ugliness attached to the Playboy Mansion. And Holly Madison wrote about Hefner’s choice of ‘thigh openers’–qualuudes.

    • Michelle says:

      Part of what I find so damn troubling about all of this (there is so much to find troubling) is that Bill Cosby spent so much of his career selling this bullsh*t wholesome act. Cliff Huxtable was supposed to be some patriarch figure for America–America’s dad. This man went around giving life advise, mainly to African Americans, about how they needed to get their sh*t together and act decent. What a twisted individual.

      The people who are still claiming that they don’t believe this seem to be missing the point here that it doesn’t matter if these women were actually willing to have sex with Bill at one point, and it doesn’t matter if they were actually looking to get ahead. Bill still raped them because Bill apparently has a proclivity for taking advantage of women and having nearly necrophilic sex with their bodies. It wasn’t good enough for this man that some of these women may’ve been willing participants, because his pleasure came from taking it from them without their consent. This is the point that is so lost on so many because they can’t get past the point that these women were with Bill in the first place.

  33. FingerBinger says:

    The cover is a very powerful statement. You don’t even have to read the article.

    • Giddy says:

      I love the cover with all the women sitting in chairs, then the empty chair for those who haven’t come forward yet.

  34. lucy2 says:

    On another site, I saw someone comment “I still don’t believe them, why did it take so long for them to come forward?” – and the question is the answer itself. If he’s not willing to believe them now, all of them together, with Cosby admitting in a deposition to the drugs, what makes him think anyone would have believed 1 of them alone, accusing a then beloved and powerful celebrity?

  35. Giddy says:

    Luckily I saw the article last night before the site crashed. These women are so courageous to come forward and I am grateful for them that now even the idiots like Whoopi have been silenced. The horror of the individual stories stands in contrast to the incredible portraits in the article. I hope Bill Cosby sees those portraits and how beautiful and strong those women look. He didn’t care if he ruined their lives, but in the end they have triumphed and he is the ruined one.

  36. Susanne says:

    I have been able to read some of the article, and will be sure to read every one of those women’s stories, and connect each of them to their faces. I am so happy for them that they are getting some validation and acknowledgement, or rather that Cosby is finally seen for the monster he is. Mostly I love how the women have connected. There is a gift there if love and compassion and sisterhood that is greater than anything that man could do.

  37. Vampi says:

    Are they going to get the site back up and running? If they don’t…..something stinks.

  38. Michelle says:

    This cover is so powerful and so important that I feel like anything I say is going to be an understatement. The Cosby case is so crucially important because just like many current events have proven the U.S. still has a major race issue, this case has single-handedly proven that we have a misogyny issue as well.

    There has been story after story painting these women as fame-hungry sluts who got what they deserved because they were only sleeping with Bill Cosby to get ahead anyway. Their rapes were supposed to be justified because they “willingly” swallowed whatever pills were handed off to them. In some more radical defenses of Cosby, even when it was acknowledged that he slipped drugs in some women’s drinks, these women were supposed to be in the wrong because they were there with him in the first place. I couldn’t believe that in 2015, that old disgusting adage of, “She was asking to be raped because she wore that mini skirt” was still alive and well. I read an article by the disgusting Andrea Peyser in which she argued that good women not only wouldn’t have been alone with Bill Cosby to begin with, they also wouldn’t have gotten drunk or put themselves in a position where they might be taken advantage of. She went on to note how in previous generations, good girls didn’t do things like this and if they got too drunk and were taken advantage of, they rightfully shut up and lived with their bad choice in silence.

    So this is where we’re at today in 2015. We have NOT progressed. We still live in a society where a man’s word holds more value than a woman’s does. People still feel that victim blaming is rational. Whether these women were looking to sleep with Bill Cosby or not, when he drugged them and had sex with their unconscious bodies, he committed the act of rape. The man is a serial rapist, and I hope justice is served, but the issue that needs the most attention is why so many were so willing to write these women off as sluts undeserving of being listened to who had it coming.

  39. Dr.Funkenstein says:

    Not too optimistic about Camille coming around after this, mostly because she’s his business agent and I think she’s known about all of this for decades anyway. I’m not willing to cut her any slack, myself. Still, any sensible person would certainly have to realize by this point that there is no real defense for Cosby’s actions, and if he doesn’t have a cluster of personality disorders I’ll eat my tam.

  40. BNA FN says:

    What I have been wondering since I saw the volume of women coming forward is, were there any women who were overdosed on the drugs he gave and died, and it was covered up. I listened to a show and I swore I heard that a woman had died from a overdose and it was covered up. Anyone know anything about this cover up?

  41. Lucy says:

    This cover will go down in history. This story will, hopefully.

  42. Lisa says:

    Barbara’s story in particular is terrifying. IT KEPT HAPPENING TO HER AND NOBODY KNEW. Then he gaslighted her. Oh my god. Burn him alive.

  43. Tania says:

    Slightly OT, but if Harvard can keep its $30 million donation from Jeffrey Epstein (pimp/ serial pedophile but white guy with friends in high places), Spellman college shouldn’t shoot itself in the foot by returning Cosby’s money. Black colleges need as much money for their endowments as they can get.

  44. WinnieCoopersMom says:

    If he is not made to pay for his sins – some form of torture/imprisonment – this proves the inadequacy of our judicial system. Why did the files have to be unlocked only after the statute of limitations was up? It’s not right. It’s not just. Can anyone with the proper amount of authority undo this and make him pay??

  45. iheartgossip says:

    Never liked him. Never found his humor funny. Always seemed like a very mean bully. Never Found Him Funny. So he’s not let me down. The only ‘down’ I feel is society and H’wood covered for this rapist for so many years. It was the loudest secret in H’wood, cause everybody knew. I wonder how many more rapist and abusers are being hidden??

  46. NGBoston says:

    Incredibly well done piece. These are some of the final nails in Cosby’s coffin. It’s true– just like OJ Simpson– no one thinks “Oh, great Football Player” when his name is mentioned.

    And NO ONE will remember Cosby’s talents or career forever more when his name is mentioned or any article printed in his name.

    EFF YOU BILL!! Bravo to all these women and that article. However painful to read– with every print and click on the internet– I hope each can begin to feel slightly vindicated.

    #TRUTHWILLSETYOUFREE

  47. Jezza says:

    Damn! Seeing this…they are so brave, courageous. Powerful stuff.

    How can anyone not look at this cover and think he is anything less than a monster. He is a serial rapist…Do not deny these women justice any longer!!

  48. b says:

    The fact that there is an extra empty chair on the cover gives me the chills.

  49. funcakes says:

    This cover still won’t change Whoopie’s mind. Someone should hold this up and say,”So àll these women are lying?”

    • Jayna says:

      It won’t change a lot of people’s minds. That’s just the way it is, unfortunately. You can read it on other sites where the opinion is Cosby is being railroaded because he is black and the women are mostly white. And it’s been so long, why didn’t they report anything before.

  50. FLORC says:

    This cover is awesome! I love it. It’s such an impact to see them in 1 spot. Not a few here and a few there.

    I can barely handle these Cosby details anymore. I’m just happy this story wasn’t a flash in the news pan. Too often victims come forward and are dismissed if they come forward at all. I’m happy these women can speak openly on a grand scale. This is a wonderful thing.

  51. holly hobby says:

    I don’t know if anyone follows the Apprentice (yeah yeah it’s entertaining so judge away) but the actress who played Rudy was on it last year. She got nailed by DT because she did not call BC for a sizable donation. DT kept prodding her about it in the board room and she was very evasive for her reasons. Now I know. If the cast knew what Uncle Bill was doing there’s no doubt in my mind she stayed away for a reason. She is in the age demographic he prefers.

  52. jwoolman says:

    She and Lisa Bonet may know more than they care to reveal at the moment. So it could be personal experience (“Rudy” was in her teens by the end of the show) or just knowing what had happened to others. Perhaps she was told to never be alone with him, for instance. Or perhaps they picked up on the sleaze vibes. I only know Cosby from TV, but he gave me the creeps by the time he was playing Dr. Huxtable and I didn’t know why. I don’t recall feeling that way about him when he was younger, as a standup and in a spy TV show. I didn’t feel that way about anybody else on the Cosby show.

  53. Penelope says:

    This story is so sad and depressing. This monster ruined lives and tosses his criminal behavior off as “It was the 70’s!” He should be jailed for the rest of his miserable existence.

  54. Tara says:

    It sickens me that this man was able to get away with this for so long because of his money, clout, and power and because of the awful way society treats women who are victims of sexual violence.

  55. When you wonder about Camile Cosby, think of Mrs Sandusky.