Hollywood has given up on Bill Cosby.
The entertainment industry is slamming the door on the 77-year-old comedian, siding with the court of public opinion on a growing list of sexual assault accusations against him.
The latest development: AP released released a previously unaired video of Cosby and his wife, Camille, in a Nov. 6 interview in which the comedian is asked about sex-abuse allegations and he says, “There’s no response.”
Cosby adds, “There is no comment about that. And I’ll tell you why. I don’t want to compromise your integrity, but I don’t talk about it.” Cosby goes on to ask the reporter if the part about the allegations can be edited out of the video.
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The video comes on the heels of NBC dropping a deal with Cosby for a new sitcom previously expected in 2015 and described as “heartwarming.” And TV Land pulled all Cosby Show reruns effective immediately, including a planned Thanksgiving marathon. Within minutes, the network had deactivated its Cosby Show page online.
[pullquote style=”left” quote=”dark”]“Today will mark the end of Bill Cosby’s career in comedy, in telling people how they should live their lives, in being ‘America’s Dad’ and by some accounts, an American hero,” says Victor Fiorillo, a senior reporter for Philadelphia Magazine[pullquote]
Netflix was the first to fly the coop, announcing late Tuesday plans to scrap a Cosby special slated for Thanksgiving weekend.
Cosby has remained silent, but some experts say that could change. “If Cosby has contrary evidence and a powerfully different version of these allegations — and has the will to fight — we could be seeing more chapters of this saga ahead,” says Eric Dezenhall[, author of Glass Jaw.
Not everyone is bailing. Cosby is in the middle of a stand-up tour, and the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas has decided to go on with Thursday’s show. Cosby has also kept a sold-out Melbourne, Fla., show Friday, and one in Las Vegas next week remains scheduled.
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“While we are aware of the allegations reported in the press, we are only in a position to judge him based on his career as an entertainer and humanitarian,” a statement from Cosby’s management team read on Melbourne’s King Center for Performing Arts site.
While performing, will he crack jokes about his fall from grace? “Who knows what he’s going to do,” says Fiorillo, who predicts Cosby could pop up on Oprah or 60 Minutes soon.
But if Cosby opts for a joke while performing instead of an in-depth interview, “I wouldn’t be surprised that more women come forward against him.”
