I stopped liking Bill Cosby 25 years ago. Here's the story.

[Are_grits_groceries]

In 1989, Cosby was invited to Notre Dame to speak to a group of about 50 black graduates. While speaking with the students, Cosby asked All-American tackle Dean Brown what his GPA was. When Brown told him it was a 2.5, Cosby proceeded to humiliate him in front of the other students and parents:

"What do you think of a 2.5 average?" Cosby asked.

"I think it's decent," replied Brown, who was recently drafted by pro football's Indianapolis Colts.

Cosby snarled back: "2.5 is OK if you have a mental disorder. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should have worked harder."

Tears streamed down the 290-lbs. Brown's face as he tried to defend himself: "I worked hard. I did my best..."

But Cosby cut him short. "You didn't do enough."

http://deadspin.com/bill-cosby-once-publicly-bullied-a-notre-dame-football-1661325778

About Dean Brown:

Saw your piece on Cosby and Dean Brown. Just wanted to send you a little more detail on Dean and the impact of Cosby words on him. It stayed with him for years.

You're right that Dean was a good guy. His nickname on campus was "Big Happy." He also had some serious difficulties growing up. He watched his mother coughing up blood as she had a stroke in front of him when he was 4. His dad had already left by then. She couldn't work for years and was left with a permanent limp. He had no money. He hustled food stamps at 10. He'd collect the food stamps from people in the neighborhood, buy 25 cents of candy, give the food stamp recipient back 75 cents of change, that money was then spent at the liquor store. Dean would resell the candy at school at a marked up price… And his favorite show growing up? Fat Albert. That isn't some nice revisionist detail. He actually wrote that on a media guide questionnaire before his junior year. He was also very candid in saying he benefitted the most of any of his teammates by being at Notre Dame. So he starts on a national title team and then he's set to graduate a year later, a pretty monumental deal for him and Cosby berates him. When I spoke to Dean in 2012 for my book he said this: "I went a lot of years feeling like I was a failure, one because I didn't think I played long enough in the pros," Brown said. "And, there were times that anytime I heard Bill Cosby's name — it wasn't a cringe, but it was a heavy uneasiness about what had transpired."

http://deadspin.com/bill-cosby-once-publicly-bullied-a-notre-dame-football-1661325778
.........................................
I never liked Cosby again.
What he did to this kid was uncalled for and just plain mean. Cosby knew nothing about this kid. He probably worked his ass off for a 2.5. Brown had made it out and was going to graduate. That should have been applauded.

Humiliating this kid in front of others was beyond cruel. After I read this story, I never looked at Cosby the same way again. There was another side to him that was darker and different. How you treat people who can't 'fight back' is telling.

I'm sure the Cosby apologists will be out in force.

I always liked Cosby. He was a part of my life when I consider how long he was in my conscious. I loved I Spy, his albums, and the toons. I have no glee in the way I feel now. He ceased being funny to me.

[yellowcanine]

1. I have felt for a long time that Cosby's preachiness was arrogant and condescending

And he did not seem to understand that his baiting of members of his own race provided cover for white racists who could now say that they weren't saying anything which Bill Cosby was saying. He is not a nice man.

[azurnoir]

11. +1

also a story about how the mural used at the beginning of the Cosby Show had been painted by kids in a homeless shelter and the show basically stole it and never contributed a dime to the shelter or kids

[BlancheSplanchnik]

80. woa.

Didn't know that. That's low.

[Warren DeMontague]

98. Yep. And it pretty clearly was masking some underlying fucked-upedness.

It's these folks who wake up in the morning trying to 'scour' the 'immorality' from our 'culture in crisis', etc.

Methinks some folks protesteth WAY too much.

I suspect that the real morality crisis is behind the mirror.

[marble falls]

2. Pretty much my evolution with Bill Cosby. He was a 'hero' I was surprised to learn had feet of clay

(but from different examples). In his later years I thought he provided a lot of justification to racists with his criticism of various black personalities.

[winterwar]

3. This is news to me

Thanks for posting. I hope this news gets around. I want to see him attempt to justify being a condescending prick to this kid.

[whathehell]

6. Cruel, lousy thing to do to Dean Brown or any kid..

especially in public.

[TNNurse]

4. Arrogant jerk

How very sad.

[Doctor_J]

5. excellent read. I too enjoyed his comedy and his tv shows.

These new revelations are disheartening. He's going to go to his grave being reviled, probably with good reason.

[deutsey]

7. I loved "Fat Albert" growing up

and liked some of his movies from the '70s...and "Noah", of course.

I wasn't a fan of the Cosby Show, though, and certainly haven't appreciated his self-appointed role as the Conscience of African-Americans.

[mulsh]

8. The above story doesn't surprise me. In the mid 70's I was exposed to Mr. Cosby

at a series of Glide Memorial Church functions in SF. He was pretty nasty and down right mean to certain people. He seemed to especially relish being rude and nasty to his white teen age fans. He wasn't much better to our black and brown friends at these events. Most of my friends ended up like me. Enjoying some of his shows but we never forgot what a nasty prick the real guy is.

All that said, and please try to set aside the horrible act of rape for a moment. I have been wondering why these rape storied are appearing at this particular moment. It's not as if they haven't been floating around for a while. Cosby has probably been a prick in private life all this time too.

[pnwmom]

61. A comic who'd gotten tired of Cosby's holier-than-thou lectures made a crack onstage

about his hypocrisy, in view of the rape claims against him.

For once, someone in the media decided to follow-up, and when the rock was overturned, the worms started crawling out. He couldn't hide his secrets any longer.

[JDPriestly]

96. Sexual harassment and rape are crimes that leave the victim with a sense of shame and the fear

of being viewed as complicit and at fault in inviting the sexual attack. This is especially true if the person who was harassed or raped actually liked or admired the harasser, the rapist.

People who are harassed or raped are often very normal people, sometimes very attractive people who just don't want to admit to themselves or others that they were harassed or raped.

It has to do with the nature of the crime. Sexual abuse is an attack on a person's most private, most intimate feelings and also on the victim's confidence in his or her ability to say not just "no" but "yes" to the attacker who is often a person in authority, someone feared or respected. After being harassed, the victim asks him- or herself, "What could I have done differently?" And the victim's feelings are confused.

Sex crimes are complex in that they may or may not leave any physical markers of loss or injury. The losses or injuries are done to parts of us that are deeper than our conscious, thinking selves. And sometimes it takes only a small movement or gesture for a perpetrator to cross the line from an innocent, joking or simply affectionate gesture, even a sign of respect and friendship to harassment and then in some horrible cases actual rape. In the case of harassment, the victim may wait and wait hoping for an apology. That is especially true if the harasser or rapist is a co-worker, a boss or someone in authority. "Maybe he just made a mistake but he really does respect and like me" is the victim's inner conversation and hope. But the truth is that harassment and rape are perversions of acts of affection and love, perversions of acts of respect, admiration and concern.

The damage is done not just to the physical person of the victim but to the victim's spirit, sense of individuality and ability to be a person capable of dealing with life especially with physical threats.

A lot of attractive women are the victims of harassment and rape. You would be surprised. But sexual abuse, harassment and rape are not just reserved for attractive women.

Many victims try to recover by attempting to forget the crime. Of course, that effort to try to forget often does not work. It makes things worse. The memory of something which might sound so trivial to a third person stays with the victim and remains in his/her secret thoughts. It is very hard to talk about harassment or rape because the physical acts involved are very personal and because they are actions that within the child that is in you are associated with good feelings, positive emotions, affection and acceptance and even the love of your parents or your husband or wife or siblings. That is why we use the word "pervert" or "perversion" to speak of sex offenders. Because so often their physical movements or gestures mimic the most basic movements of a baby trusting its mother, nursing, loving, being touched and comforted. Suddenly those comforting gestures are twisted by the harasser or rapist into movements of ridicule, of disrespect, of harming and endangering, of embarrassing, of threatening, of harming, of hurting, and often of holding the horrible possibility of a repeated attack or a ruined reputation over the victim.

So that is why victims of sexual abuse from simple harassment, perhaps a gesture that the perpetrator thinks nothing of, to actual rape, are haunted by their memories but unable to speak to others about them.

Harassment and rape are crimes (and legally, harassment is not generally considered a crime although it could be classed as an assault in some cases, an unwanted touching, an unauthorized touching) that are not reported until the victim has suffered the torments of secret memories for so long that silence is no longer possible.

As an aside, years ago when I worked for a homeless project and was seeking money for homeless women, I discovered that (of the small sample I dealt with) nearly all of them reported having been harassed or raped in their early teen years -- usually by a step-father or someone they trusted. The damage to the victim can play out over many years.

The victims of the sexual predators in the scandal about the Catholic church also sometimes did not come forward for many years. It is because we are in our deepest feelings and memories confused between the affectionate nature of intimate touching (Mommy changes our diapers and bathes us as infants) and the physical actions involved in harassment and rape. This is bound to be more confusing to some of us than to others.

One child will immediately respond to the unwanted touching of a classmate with a slap or a sharp look or a report to the teacher. Another will wither, wilt and never dare to admit to having been harassed. A third will tell mother or father. It depends on the child's nature. But every one of them will be harmed.

[WinkyDink]

107. Sometimes courage needs to be prompted. And your questioning makes it clear why these women didn't

come forward before----OTHERS WOULD DOUBT THEM.

[tosh]

109. I had that same exposure to him...

1973, I think. Cosby and his entourage boarded an elevator on which I was riding with one of Cosby's biggest fans, a 14 y/o boy who happened to have had a pretty tough life but was one of the sweetest & funniest kids I've ever known. That boy was almost in disbelief but spoke admiringly to Cosby, who brushed him off in a MEAN & nasty way.

The kid was tragically killed 2 years later and I've never been able to think of him without remembering the Cosby incident. I never liked Cosby after that, no matter what role he played. Not a nice guy at all.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Bill Cosby has been well-known as an asshole for ages.

For instance, he was interviewed for TV Guide in 1984, and berated the reporter about TV Guide mentioning how many cars he owned in a piece 15 years earlier (he saw it as an unacceptable intrusion into his privacy, or something).

And then there's this, that came out relatively recently, and is creepy as fuck:

“the tension in the air was remarkably thick” as Cosby immediately took control of our interview by treating me to a fairly hostile 14-minute discourse on why he distrusted the press. (You can find the article online.) Cosby’s attitude was especially bewildering because he usually got good press. He was for years one of the most beloved performers in show business.

“Tell me what you want to ask and we’ll see how it goes,” he told me, speaking slowly and measuring his words. “If it doesn’t go well, I’ll give you a piece of fruit. I’ll give you an apple or pear and you can be on your way.”

Less than a week after the story was published, I received a package at AP’s world headquarters, which was then at 50 Rockefeller Plaza. This was years before 9-11 so of course I opened it without trepidation.

Inside was a sheet of paper with three typed words: “Here’s your apple.” The signature in black ink read “Bill Cosby.” And wrapped in a paper towel was indeed an apple, dried and withered.


I marveled at the time that a man in his position would go to the trouble of locating a dead apple, placing it in a paper towel, finding out the address of the Associated Press and mailing it to me.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/11/bill-cosby-didnt-rape-me-but-what-he-did-has-always-given-me-the-creeps/

I get the impression that he's probably a sociopath.

[DanTex]

16. That was my impression. I had heard first-hand stories from people who worked on sets with him.

[NJCher]

23. attempting to control the press

And people who tried to get their story out.

That story, though, is notable because of what the author says at the end, about Cosby going to the trouble of finding a "dead apple," finding the address, and mailing it.

I concur that he is probably a sociopath.


Cher

[Unknown Beatle]

88. People like Cosby have

handlers and he probably ordered them to locate a rotten apple, find the AP address, type the letter which he signed and then have them mail it. I really don't think he did it by himself as he has a power trip going and ordering people around gives him a hard-on.

[LittleGirl]

10. That's amazing

I was at Notre Dame (working between 88-92). I don't remember those years that much and what you wrote makes me hate that man even more. Disgusting and I laughed hard at his comedy back then. Thank you for the story.

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. "I'm sure the Cosby apologists will be out in force." This is a horrible story, and my

heart breaks for Brown. Cosby IS horrid for speaking to him in that manner because he (Brown) accomplished so very much.

That said...

Your side commentary is one of the MAJOR reasons why I spend less and less time on DU. It seems like people are spoiling for a fight these days, and that is very sad. I was ready to rec this post, and then I saw that.

[Are_grits_groceries]

39. I am not spoiling for a fight.

I posted this and wondered if it would be attacked because I don't like Cosby even with what I believe to be a valid reason. My remark was more of a sigh about the possible nastiness. I'll argue with people but too often it goes to personal attacks. I try to avoid that but I know I have slipped.

[fadedrose]

51. I consider you one of the nice guys

Always nice, reasonable ....and I always read your posts.

Also I love your kitties..

[LanternWaste]

13. Another reason I'm glad I've consciously attempted to separate the art from the artist.

Another reason I'm glad I've consciously attempted to separate the art from the artist.

[NJCher]

24. I try to do that, too

I don't think Cosby is "art," though.

Frank Sinatra. Great artist, a loser as a human being.

Still, I love to listen to him. Every once in awhile, though, the quality of person that he was lurks around the edges of my enjoyment.


Cher

[LanternWaste]

84. Art? Maybe, maybe not-- I s'pose it's a diaphanous definition in the eye of the beholder.

Art? Maybe, maybe not-- I s'pose it's a diaphanous definition in the eye of the beholder. Is a comedian an artist? I think so, but I don't pretend to know one way or the other-- they do seem to fit the definition of the word, but I also realize that 'artist' is a high bar to achiever regardless of profession (a concept which my downstairs neighbors who think they have a super grunge/metal garage band don't really get...)

But yeah... Cosby's stand-up routines had me laughing my butt off-- particularly one that was available on VHS in the mid-eighties that almost every family seemed to own. And the few times I catch re-runs of the Cosby Show, I'm still in awe of how effortlessly he seemed to re-write his stand-up material to television format without losing any of its wit or relevance.

Playwright David Mamet, author Tom Wolfe, actor James Caan (heck, even Bruce Willis if I include a guilty indulgence or two) are all serious jerks on a personal level (Mamet is, I've concluded, the World's Biggest Jerk... with Harlan Ellison as the Court Jester of that kingdom), but God help me, I've got a real thing for their work.

[burfman]

14. confirmation of the story from the Chicago Tribune

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-05-24/sports/9002140409_1_bill-cosby-notre-dame-tears

[AwakeAtLast]

21. Oh my

Thank you for posting this. This happened before the internet, so it was probably not widely known.

[swag]

15. Bill Cosby, pull your own damn pants up N/T

[bettyellen]

44. LOL, what are YOU doing here, mister?

[Botany]

17. Bill Cosby was very well paid to come to a fund raiser for an Ohio organization ...

.... that works with troubled teens in the 1980s and a friend's father was in
charge of the event and he told me that Mr. Cosby was a first class prick.
He refused to meetw/any of the teens, was grumpy with the people running
the show, and kept asking when he would get paid.

[dflprincess]

110. I've heard from people that work at the local casino

that he's just awful to the staff when he appears there

[Catherine Vincent]

18. That WAS uncalled for

I always heard that he wasn't a very nice person.

[no_hypocrisy]

19. On the other side of the coin, Cosby inflated his education history.

His college career is a bit flimsy at best.

Failed the tenth grade three times in high school.

Dropped out of Temple to pursue a career.

Hardly took a class for his Ph.D. dissertation and the university used his appearances on Sesame Street as credits.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/24/bill-cosbys-doctoral-thesis-was-about-using-fat-albert-as-a-teaching-tool/

[NJCher]

33. amazing--it's all crumbling

Read your link and associated articles.

I don't find it hard to believe at all that he was treated as a celebrity in his pursuit of this degree. Nauseating.

I'll bet if one were to do some nosing around, there would be a ghost writer for the dissertation, too. At the very least, documentation systems require some thinking, and I doubt if he was up to the job.


Cher

[eppur_se_muova]

46. Always thought it was strange his "credentials" appeared in the credits of The Cosby Show. nt

[47of74]

99. Generally you don't see others doing that

Mayim Bialik has a doctorate in neuro science but you don't see her credited as Mayim Bialik, Ph.D. Peter Weller also has a doctorate and I think on some of the shows he did on "history" had mentioned that. But he didn't have Ph.D added to his Star Trek credits.

[unblock]

49. fwiw, it was an ed.d, not a ph.d., and at least somewhat "earned".

at his level of celebrity, he could have gotten an honorary degree without doing any academic work at all. so it's a (small) step in the right direction that at least he did at least something academic toward earning his doctorate, even if the requirements he faced were markedly less than the requirements other doctoral candidates face.

that said, he's still a putz on many levels.

[muntrv]

58. I thought the degree was "Ed. D." Thats' what the credits say on the "Cosby Show" and

"Different World."

[Frank Cannon]

134. That was my first inkling that he's an arrogant asswipe.

Looks like I wasn't wrong in my opinion of him.

[geek tragedy]

20. The Cosby Rape Apologist brigade won't dispute this, since the victim and the witnesses were men nt

[oberliner]

28. There is no such brigade

Where is this idea coming from that this board is filled with such people?

[geek tragedy]

31. there are people who refer to the victims collectively as "party groupies"

and claim this is a conspiracy to destroy his legacy.

They usually pop up, in mercifully small numbers, in Cosby threads, to trot out the stale "why didn't they go to the police" line as well as other attacks on the victims' credibility.

[NJCher]

35. yes, I know; ran up against one

Their fervor and indignation is palpable.




Cher

[NuclearDem]

69. Oh please, they're everywhere.

Calling victims "moneygrubbers", shaming them for not coming forward sooner, suggesting the allegations simply exist to torpedo Cosby's new show, and just generally mocking them.

[geek tragedy]

74. See for example

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6075378

[NuclearDem]

76. Plenty more than that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025915335

And pretty much everywhere here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6068546

[Hissyspit]

22. The Spanish fly bit from his late 60s album always kind of bugged me

as a kid. But I just took it as not serious because it was a comedy album.

Know better now.

[redgreenandblue]

137. it is creepy.

one of the things that has me leaning strongly towards the allegations against cosby being true.

[dilby]

25. Bill Cosby is a D-Bag for sure but I am sure there are many on these boards who secretly agree with

him about Dean Brown or at the very least feel no one deserves a free education just because they can play football. I on the other hand feel college athletics is the one thing that can help children who lack financial means achieve a college education which will give them a forever step up even if they don't go pro.

[oberliner]

26. You are wrong

There are no "Cosby apologists" out in force. Not sure why you would have thought there would be.

[MADem]

57. I agree with you.

I think, in the early days, that people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, because his TV characters were just so well crafted that he had this persona of cheeriness/goodness/mercy and they didn't want to believe that the "I Spy"/Huxtable guy could possibly be a pervy druggie rapist. But when the few became the many, and there are more victims telling similar stories with the same creepy details, what little benefit of the doubt he was given was taken back.

Many of the "shitty Cosby" stories that have been reiterated here I've heard before--I don't like the guy, myself and I really can't watch his material without thinking "What an asshole." I don't think he's a good person, and I think his chickens are coming home to roost. I'm amazed he got away with so much for so long.

[Hekate]

122. I was one who wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt; I knew nothing of him except...

...the parts he acted. That smiling, affable, funny public face. I don't much like collecting gossip about public figures unless it reaches such a pitch -- well, like John Edwards and Bill Cosby.

Somewhere around the 10th woman to come forward about Cosby, I gave up on trying to remain "objective." Now I look at him with a feeling of utter revulsion that he got away with his act for so long. His world is unravelling around him.

[MADem]

126. When it gets to the point where there are so many people out there who

were drugged by this cretin, all in similar fashion, it's time to just deploy the common sense. Where there's smoke, there's likely to be fire. There can't be that many people who can tell the same sort of story with such particular and creepy detail..

[Hekate]

128. He was a skillful and very successful predator for most of his life. He had the rest of us...

...believing the mask.

[uponit7771]

66. I agree, just people wanting to see evidence and don't take the word of people who want big money

... in returns word for it...

[geek tragedy]

123. So your claim is that all of the women are just chasing money?

Go sit next to Dotti Sandusky.

Smearing rape victims is vile. You should be ashamed, but apologists rarely are.

[arcane1]

75. That's how DU rolls now, unfortunately.

[Thespian2]

27. Thanks for an informative post.

Unfortunately, the rich and famous can easily hide their most sinister side. As you say, humiliating a kid who had improved his life makes Cosby even more evil than one imagined.

[JackInGreen]

29. Personally I stopped liking him

when he started sounding like my worst redneck relatives about 'the black youth' of america.
Was done, never looked back.

[Schema Thing]

37. ^this

[Nay]

72. ^This, a thousand times. nt

[NOLALady]

116. I dropped him

also when he turned "redneck". No offense to nice rednecks.

[mountain grammy]

30. I had never see this, but it doesn't surprise me..

since by 1989, he was getting the reputation of being a jerk and I had turned him off.

How sad for Dean Brown, and I'm sure Cosby has no regrets, and that's even worse.

[muntrv]

59. That may explain why Lisa Bonet left the show.

[Hekate]

129. I've been thinking that for some time now. When only one member of a family is the odd man out...

...look to the family structure to see if they are being assigned to carry the family's dysfunction or, in the case of an abusive parent, if they were the one child singled out for abuse.

There were a bunch of child actors who grew up on the Huxtable set -- in many ways it was a family. And there was ole Bill, in the role of all-powerful father, writer of pay checks, and to all appearances a benevolent despot.

It takes on average 20 years for a victim to speak out; some much longer. Sometimes the fact that others are speaking out frees even more victims to say their piece. Sometimes I think it must have the opposite effect as well: a person who is afraid may feel they have permission to keep silent because someone else has taken the responsibility of trying to stop this monster. There are many facets to silence and secrecy, and having been silent myself, I can't judge others.

[BlueJazz]

32. My former profession was at CBS. I had heard a few stories about Cosby but didn't think much..

...about it. Sometimes times at my job, we'd meet someone, who happened to be in the spotlight, and were fairly amazed by what a rather nasty person they were. (you would think they would be overjoyed with life).

Some were wonderful though...One person stuck out as a genuine sweetheart and lovely lady.
Julie Andrews.

[47of74]

47. I've heard that...

...some of the people who played assholes on TV in real life were quite friendly and well liked. Larry Linville comes to mind - his cast mates on MASH thought the world of him, he was the opposite of the Frank Burns character he played.

[BlueJazz]

50. Ah Yes.I think? he was offered an extension of his contract with Mash but wanted to do other things.

I never heard a bad word about him.

[47of74]

63. He was really good friends with Gary Burghoff (Radar)

He thought after five seasons he took the character as far as he could. He was also getting tired of playing an idiot every week. If only some in Congress would follow his example.

[BlueJazz]

83. "If only some in Congress would follow his example"

Isn't that the truth?

[nxylas]

102. Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter) is apparently a nice guy IRL

At least Daniel Radcliffe has said so in interviews.

[ND-Dem]

71. i'm not surprised by your opinion of andrews, being as she was best friends with

carole burnett, who seems to have been very well-liked by her peers and a generally decent and kind human being.

[bemildred]

34. I stopped liking him when he went on TV. nt

[vankuria]

36. Reminds me of a story...

Of my own college years. When I first started college I was terribly insecure, afraid I wasn't smart enough, good enough, etc. On my first test, I thought for sure I failed and when I received it back I got a C. To me this was a big deal, I remember calling home to tell my mom and dad I got a C on a test and they acted so proud. My parents being proud of me gave me so much incentive to try harder and I became much more sure of myself, getting better grades and graduating with a solid 3.4 average. Might not seem like a big deal to some but it was to me and my proud parents.

Shame on Bill Cosby for not only stepping on this young man's spirit, but attacking him in public no less. I didn't think I could hate him more, but I do.

[Kelselsius]

38. Cosby showed his contempt for lowly high school grads in the 80's

I loved Bill Cosby as a child. I bought all of his records and listened to them over and over. I could recite his routines by memory.

He started a new show in the 80's, which I watched almost religiously.
Then he had an episode where his son said he didn't want to go to college after graduating high school.
Bill Cosby dedicated the entire episode to explain to his son and the entire audience of millions, how if you don't go to college, you will absolutely, without a doubt, be a total FAILURE in life.

I yelled at the TV, "What about the rest of us who don't have both a rich doctor and a rich lawyer for parents??"

That was the last time I watched his show.

[Siwsan]

56. I remember that show, and I had the SAME reaction, as you!

It was the very last time I watched him on TV - even to the point of turning off his commercials. That episode made me that much more grateful for the wonderful, accepting Dad that I was blessed to have. He was proud of me for what I did accomplish, not disappointed about what I didn't.

[zipplewrath]

62. Watched it with the sound off

I watched the Cosby Show with the sound off as part of an exercise in an American Sign Language course I was taking. It was a bit unnerving. Both he, and the wife character appeared to be extremely condescending and arrogant. It was purely an appearance thing, I have no idea what the dialogue was. But it was hard to watch the show after that because everything now came through that image/filter.

[Skittles]

106. OMG SOMEONE ELSE SAW IT!!!

I never could stand Cosby's condescending manner - it was so freaking obvious to me but others just did not seem to notice! WTF!!!

[zipplewrath]

112. They covered for him

The wife and parent characters "covered" for him regularly by "taking him down a notch". He was often talking to the "misbehaving children". With the sound off, you didn't know the children were misbehaving, and the parents often just appeared to be telling "cute stories". But Cosby's face and mannerisms screamed arrogance and condescension.

[muntrv]

67. That was the first episode of the series.

On Edit: With all due respect, how is that episode different from any other family sit com? Just about every other family sit com had an episode where the father/mother came down on the kid for not doing well in school.

[Kelselsius]

81. This was a second season episode

This was a second season episode called "Theo's Holiday."
The entire family role plays to prove that Theo will be a broke failure if he doesn't go to college.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0547107/?ref_=ttep_ep22

Though I do agree that in the 80's it was more likely you can get a well paying job with a college degree, it's a terrible message to tell people they are failures if they don't (or can't) go to college.

Imagine a teenager watching this episode with grades not high enough (or athletic enough) for scholarships or grants and no rich parents.
Bill Cosby pretty much tells that teenager that he or she is going to be a failure.
So why bother finishing high school?

[uponit7771]

68. For blacks, that's almost true... I looked at that episode in that context... without a degree

... these days the ability increase the chance to get a living wage job are reduced.

MIT resume name study explains a lot of why...

[ann---]

40. I never watched

The Bill Cosby Show. I just didn't think he was funny - at all.

[gordianot]

41. Truly disgusting Cosby has left a lot of human wreckage.

[LawDeeDah]

42. I never did like him. Why, I am not sure

but some reasons stated in this thread: the arrogance, the snobbery, the holier than thou stuff, is probably it. What he did to Brown was bullying cruelty, what a horrible little man.

[KittyWampus]

43. He was instrumental in changing American society. Is saying that fact being "an apologist"?

And this thread ends up being a place to take a collective dump on a public figure which is extremely common in crowds. People love being able to take someone famous down as many notches as possible. Makes them feel better about their own lives. Someone upthread decides to play armchair psychologist and labels Cosby a "sociopath".

While I know stories from when Cosby was taping at Astoria studios, it doesn't diminish the respect I have for what he did throughout his career.

"I NEVER DID LIKE COSBY"… there will be many recs on this thread and replies saying how everyone just KNEW he was a (fill in blank) it is so predictable. And unintentionally ironic in the sanctimony on display.

Maybe someone will start a thread for Martin Luther King day so we can call him a hypocrite for being a preacher and having cheated on his wife.

Oh, and just for the record, I am not comparing MLK to Cosby… just using an ugly example I find on rightwing sites.

[Are_grits_groceries]

53. I don't feel better.

There are many people made great progress on the one hand but also had a negative impact on the other. I call them 50/50 people.
Lyndon Johnson is one to me. His support for civil rights and the poor was outstanding. On the other hand, actions in Vietnam were shameful.
Bobby Knight, the former Indiana basketball coach is another. His players went to class and he never had NCAA violations. He quietly helped people. On the other hand he was a bully and a complete jackass to many.
There are others.

It's not a zero sum situation. The good doesn't cancel out the bad. In considering these people their whole lives have to be considered.

There are those who refuse to hear anything negative about Cosby because it's tearing him down. There are others who acknowledge no good that he has done.

His being instrumental in changing Americn society is a great point in his favor. IMO that in no way excuses other actions that weren't so great.

[Spider Jerusalem]

54. I won't disagree that he was an important cultural figure.

And I won't say "I never liked Cosby"; on the contrary, I'm of the age where things like "Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids" and "Picture Pages" and "The Cosby Show" are very much a part of my early memories. It's possible that someone can be an important cultural figure, and a monster in their private life, though. And if what Cosby is accused of is true? Then there's really not much question about whether he's a sociopath/psychopath. And it's extremely unlikely that dozens of women who don't know one another and have nothing to gain from telling their stories now (because the statute of limitations for both criminal prosecution and civil tort has expired) would be telling essentially the same story describing a pattern of behaviour that extends over several decades.

[hfojvt]

64. each one after the first though

has heard the other stories.

But when you say things like "nothing to gain" then Cosby's alleged crimes don't make any sense either. Why drug a bunch of women to have sex with them, when presumably many women would already be willing to have sex with a celebrity?

Then again, maybe there is a clear motive. The drugged women, unlike a consensual relationship would be unlikely to pursue a more permanent relationship. Not having a clear memory of the encounter, they would also not be able to blackmail Cosby - "for $50,000 I won't tell your wife (and the media) about our one night stand".

It's a different world for those with fame and money. Not that that's any excuse.

[Spider Jerusalem]

70. Why drug women and rape them? Because he's a sociopath, pretty clearly.

He fucked around on his wife with plenty of other women he wasn't drugging and raping, as well (he practically lived at the Playboy mansion at one point in the 70's). And friends and family members of several of the women have said they were told about it at the time. And then there are other things that point to a similar pattern of behaviour, like this.

[Mopar151]

131. Paul Rubens / Pee Wee Herman

Pee Wees Playhouse was brilliant! Thought his arrest was total BS. Still think he's a creep.

Ask almost anybody in racing about Geoff Bodine.

[geek tragedy]

73. People take dumps on serial rapists and bullies.

Spare us the "poor persecuted rich celebrity" sob story.

He's a rapist, and a nasty bulky, so fuck him.

[BeanMusical]

95. +1000

[peacebird]

115. Proof? Or just because he is accused?

Seriously, being accused - especially when you are a celebrity - is it because you did the deed or is it because someone wants payoff or their 15 minutes?

[Spider Jerusalem]

125. Accused by dozens of people who have nothing to gain?

It's pretty much inconceivable that that many people would tell similar stories of similar behaviour spanning decades. Ever heard of Jimmy Savile? Max Clifford? Rolf Harris? Savile is now dead, but stories of his behaviour (sexual abuse of underage girls, over decades) came out after his death and led to an extensive investigation into historical sex offences...as a result of which Clifford and Harris, among others, are now in prison.

[Major Hogwash]

130. So, at this point in time, I am now very curious about your impression of American society.

Have you ever seen a lynch mob form in real life?
Because they just formed one on GD today . . . right here, in this thread.
They had another one form yesterday in the GD forum.

I guess they just don't like black men.
And of course, they would have been the first ones to say this about President Obama . . given half the chance.

[Are_grits_groceries]

136. Bullshit!

I stated exactly why I didn't like him. It wasn't some nebulous feeling or from some combing of the news about him looking for dirt. There was no internet and I ran across this story.

Your claims that those who post about him don't like black men or would be first to attack PBO are designed to shut up those who have problems with him. What better way to stop any negativity than to throw racism and lynch mob at people?

[47of74]

45. Dean Brown is no longer with us.

He passed back in 2012;

http://m.cantonrep.com/article/20121130/News/311309820

Brown did more good in his 44 years on Earth than Cosby has in his 77.

[BronxBoy]

86. Makes the story related in the OP

Seem even more nasty and cold hearted

[JI7]

93. how fucking horrible, i wish he had been alive to hear the truth about Cosby

i don't care for football and had never heard of him. but reading the story and cosby being an asshole makes me feel so bad for the guy. and how it never left him.

[olegramps]

48. I was informed about an incident involving Cosby by a relative.

This relative is now deceased and it is only hearsay, but I think he was definitely relating the truth of the incident. A friend of his told him that Cosby had made improper advances on his daughter. This person was a promenade and respected member of an organization that was dedicated to helping young people who were from disadvantage situations. He had several friends in the entertainment business and through them he got Cosby to appear at one of his fund raiser when he happened to be in town. He was so enrage that he told my relative that he had told Crosby that if he made any more attempts to seduce his daughter, who was only seventeen at the time, he would shoot the bastard. This was more than twenty years ago and when I related the incident to my son he couldn't believe it. He like many were dedicated fans and just thought it was an exaggeration. I tended to believe it although it went against the widespread popularity and adulation of Cosby.

[kwassa]

52. Cosby reminds me of the right-wing moralists ....

The Bible-thumpers. His politics may not be the same, but his hypocrisy is.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Not much different than the preachers having affairs or worse, molesting children. Cosby is a serial sexual predator holding himself up as a moral example.

[samsingh]

55. that makes me dislike Cosby even more.

what a disgusting thing to do.

[bigwillq]

60. Never really cared for Cosby.

Never thought he was very funny, and I disliked "The Cosby Show", along with most of the other family sitcoms of the 1980s-1990s.

[uponit7771]

65. WOW!!! WTF!?! I thought the GPA question was a leading joke... he was SERIOUS!? Cosby is fucked up

[47of74]

101. Yeah GPA wasn't something I knew day to day

It strikes me as at a minimum being way out of line that Cosby asked Brown what his GPA was. I'd probably tell people it wasn't their damn concern. And while grades and GPA were important to me it wasn't something I obsessed over to the point I could produce it on demand.

[Skittles]

77. I've never liked him

I have always thought he was a condescending creep and it astounds me how many people he fooled

[demigoddess]

78. Went to see Cosby way back when

late 60s or early 70s. He was angry all through the show and it was not at all enjoyable. Hardly a laugh in the house. Essentially a rip off of the audience. I think it showed his true character. When it came to his tv show, I think the joy was in all the other actors. He didn't do much if you ask me.

[FairWinds]

79. And consider this . .

Lots of people who come across as being morally superior
have a very dark side.

[TlalocW]

82. A lot of negativity here. Here's a heart-warming story in cartoon form about someone nice

James Doohan.

?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1374700969576

TlalocW

[burfman]

138. Thanks!

Great cartoon!

[Demoiselle]

85. Most people with a 4.0 average couldn't find words as eloquent, classy and deeply felt as Mr. Brown's...

…His description of his feeling of "heavy uneasiness" about Cosby and his attitude…Wow. I wish I could write him a fan letter.. I wish I'd known him.

[polly7]

87. I never liked Bill Cosby's shows.

There was just something about him that turned me off, even as a young kid. My brothers and sisters watched him, but I'd leave to go do something else.

[craigmatic]

89. So because he had higher standards when it came to grades that's a bad thing?

Growing up my mother would tell me the same thing. Some people just take academics very seriously.

[geek tragedy]

90. No, it's because he was a sadistic asshole. Did you read the article! nt

[JI7]

94. this had nothing to do with academic standards, it was him treating someone like they are worthless

[JI7]

91. what a fucking asshole

[Stuart G]

100. I agree totally. This story shows what a worthless person he really is. no text.

[tenderfoot]

92. I was done with Cosby in the mid-80's at the height of 'Cosby Show' popularity.

He was on Phil Donahue. Someone brought up the Reagan administration's hostile policies toward the poor and blacks. He wouldn't have anything to do with the topic and insisted everyone stick to comedy. What a fucking tool.

BTW, I thought the Cosby Show blew chunks and Phylicia Rashad was known to be a Royal ***** on Wheels. No surprise that she's bent over backward to defend that douche.

[Warren DeMontague]

97. He always gave me the creeps- like in his comedy bit where he smirks about beating his kids.

But, then, I've noticed that sanctimonious puritans and moralizers often have something deeply, profoundly wrong with them.

[douggg]

103. Bill Cosby, Joe Paterno

Similar stories. A lifetime of hero worship and then the statue falls down.

[avaistheone1]

140. There is a significant difference.

Joe Paterno did not rape anyone, he did turn his back on those who did rape boys which is quite serious. True, nothing admirable or responsible about Paterno's behavior in this regard. But what is even worse is that Bill Cosby, is a serial rapist who drugged women and forced himself upon them against their will.

What Paterno and Cosby do share in common is that they are/were both incredibly powerful men, who it appeared could get away with anything including the criminal.

[Voice for Peace]

104. For some reason I have always associated Cosby with the song "I'm Black and I'm Proud"

I don't know why. But it's the reason this whole dissolution of
his legacy makes me sad because that message affected me
(white) so strongly, ie opened my eyes. I found it personally
empowering for no explicable reason.

Maybe Cosby never had anything to do with it. Maybe I saw
a clip of him somewhere quoting the song. It's weird.

[deurbano]

114. Maybe he did a James Brown impression?

[Voice for Peace]

118. I have no idea, my memories are mixed up.

It's likely I became aware of him as an entertainer at
the same time the song came out. It seemed to me an
extraordinary time and for the first time I was envious of
the beautiful black people. Suddenly there were so many
celebratory expressions of African heritage, hair, colors,
being black, being proud.

In contrast I was descended from primarily pasty white and
emotionally repressed Europeans. There was no color, only
beige and gray. "Say it loud, I'm beige and I'm proud" just
didn't ring.

Fortunately it was the sixties, when even white people
became colorful.

[deurbano]

120. I remember. I started high school in 1968 and it was my first integrated experience.

I am also mostly descended from pasty white Europeans (although in my family's case, perhaps a little more emotional repression was in order). I had attended almost entirely white elementary schools and an almost entirely white junior high, so high school finally broadened my horizons. In my Humanities class, junior year, some of my African American classmates performed a dancing/marching routine that culminated in: "I'm back and I'm proud! (With clenched fists held high.) Cool times.

And yeah, white people (like me!) became more colorful then, too. (Like my path from "sosh" to hippie.)

In 1983, I saw James Brown at the Venetian Room in San Francisco (where I live, now). He really was "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business"! What a show!

[Voice for Peace]

119. off topic from the OP, but this is a clip about the effect of that song

[alphafemale]

105. He's a bully. That has been obvious for a very long time. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

111. Except for the Jello pudding commercials,

I pretty much lost track of Cosby after Fat Albert. All of these revelations have left me stunned.

[muntrv]

113. Remember Cockroach, Theo's buddy? Cosby fired him for not getting a haircut.

https://tv.yahoo.com/photos/the-cosby-show-where-are-they-now-1365682554-slideshow/carl-anthony-payne-ii-walter-cockroach-bradley-photo--168963439.html

[goldent]

117. I can't say anything good about him as a person with all of the stories coming out, but

I'll still say he was big-time funny in his day.

[freshwest]

121. Never heard about this cruel, ignorant act. I hope Dean has put this bullying behind him.

[JI7]

124. Dean lost his life about 3 years ago

made this even more sad.

[freshwest]

127. I am so sorry to hear this. Thanks for the update.

[Malbrownluna8708]

132. I am going to assume.

That he had the same "Don't be a raunchy comedian" speech to Bob Saget, Andrew Dice clay,Sam Kinnison, . Does anyone remember they had Wanda Sykes do some audience interviews at some award show. She was so excited and a bit nervous to meet BC, she was a fan. He was so rude to her.

[snort]

133. Wanda Sykes

Not sure what the hollywood event was on tv (emmys?) but I do recall watching a show about 5 years ago where Wanda was doing a song number and making her way down one of the aisles and sitting in an aisle seat was Cosby. When She passed next to him he reacted like he was going to bite her, and the look on his face was pure nastiness. He is an asshole.

[muntrv]

139. If I recall, Cosby berated her for not speaking proper English.

[blkmusclmachine]

135. ,

,