Former model accuses Cosby; he cancels Boston shows

[avaistheone1]

Source: USA Today

BOSTON — A former fashion model and actress says Bill Cosby made sexual advances and lewd gestures toward her on the set of The Cosby Show.

Helen Gumpel, formerly known as Helen Selby, says Cosby had her sit on a couch in his dressing room, where he handed her a drink then stood in front of her with his crotch in her face.

Gumpel held a news conference at a Boston hotel Sunday. She's the latest Cosby accuser.

The 77-year-old entertainer faces sexual assault accusations from at least 15 women. He has denied the allegations and has never been charged with a crime.


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2015/02/08/cosby-latest-accuser-boston-shows-canceled/23083541/

---

New accuser emerges as Cosby cancels shows in Boston
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/08/new-accuser-emerges-bill-cosby-cancels-shows-in-boston/21140358/


actress Helen Gumpel - formerly Helen Selby


actress Helen Gumpel - formerly Helen Selby

[Initech]

1. 15? Did they count that right?

It has to be way worse than that.... he's done at any rate.

[Hekate]

31. 30 by now. Apparently it was his "other career," & he was pretty good at it judging by how long he

...got away with it. That smiling, affable, sweet persona took us all in. It took me in -- I sure wanted to believe there was really a Dr. Huxtable out there.

[mzmolly]

4. I don't know that you can make assumptions

about why anyone might not have come forward.

I don't respect blaming victims.

[cstanleytech]

23. He isnt blaming them for "being" victims rather he is blaming them for not

reporting it thus allowing Cosby to continue to create more victims.

[mzmolly]

30. Many victims

don't digest such an experience in a logical manner. I'm sure it's difficult to understand, but that doesn't make blaming the victims, ok.

[pnwmom]

38. Victims should NEVER be blamed for not reporting. They're often afraid of their abuser

and they have good reason to be. They thought they wouldn't be believed (and even now many people don't believe them) -- only he knew he had dozens of other victims.

[eggplant]

8. Wow, that's really quite a shitty attitude.

You think that victims of crimes like these are "selfish"?

Are you fucking kidding me?

[cosmicone]

11. If I am a victim of a crime

I'd come forward and report it to authorities -- not for me but to prevent the culprit from victimizing others.

When I consciously choose to not report it because the culprit is a powerful figure and reporting may be bad for my career or my image, I am being selfish.

[PCIntern]

13. I find that disingenuous to say the least...

Do you have any idea what can happen to someone who threatens a billionaire in this world? Anything goes: it could range from slashed tires to slashed faces. I wouldn't dream of doing anything to these people if I valued my and my family's lives. My God, the tinhorn organized crime types OWN the neighborhoods out of fear and they're nothing, nothing compared with these people. All they have to do is make one phone call and your life is never the same...

[cosmicone]

16. Cosby was not economically powerful back then.

He has become rich over residuals over the years.

[eggplant]

33. That's bullshit.

He has been an incredibly powerful figure in the entertainment world for a loooooooooooong time.

[christx30]

21. Those things can happen to

any crime victim. Knives are cheap. Any asshole can get some idiot friends together and intimidate a witness and victim. One doesn't have to be a billionaire to be scary to someone you have already victimized.

[Laurian]

17. I'd guess you are not a female who had to live in this society 30-40 years ago.

I am. I know how I was treated when I reported a sexual assault 40 years ago. I was a college student and the predators were low life creeps of no stature. I was humiliated and disbelieved. If I had known how I would be treated, I'd have said nothing. The treatment by law enforcement and university officials was a nightmare.

The attitude you've expressed makes it hard for me to breathe.

[Hekate]

32. I kept my silence about a close relative as a child,but when I finally spoke after 20 years....

... it ripped the family apart, from those who actually believed me to those who minimized the hell out of the experience. One of my brothers said sarcastically: "Were you raped? Were you beaten?" He was really pissed that I had caused trouble. We don't have much contact any more, but every time one of his children reaches a birthday (age 2, age 3, age 12) I want to call him up and ask him if he thinks that's an appropriate age to be molested or not. Oh, and as so often is the case, I actually only spoke out to try to protect someone else, but it was too late.

Yeah, hard to breathe. At even in my late 60s there are triggers.

[Laurian]

34. Triggers, indeed. Even after all these years, reading dismissive and cavalier

responses to situations like this brings back strong feelings of anger and resentment. I need to push all those negative feelings and thoughts away, again.

Be well, Hekate.

[CountAllVotes]

39. Hard to breathe

Yes indeed. I too was out there in the work force 30-40 years ago and when/if you said anything you were condemned and rarely taken seriously. I guess one has to live it to understand it is what I think.

Even right now as I type I am facing a "what to do" about something that happened to me just the other day that was lewd, cruel and frightening in this male dominated culture in which we live.

I'm so sick of this crap. I'd really believed that by the time women like us hit 60 or so this shit would have stopped by now. How very wrong I was.

I truly feel sorry for these women and gee, just look at how they are being treated.

[Jamastiene]

36. You are not thinking of the people who have reported people who do horrible crimes

and are ignored, because the person they reported was powerful. The perp gets by with it and the victim gets destroyed. That is how it usually happens. Not just career or image, but also becoming a target of the person they tried to report to police, with no help from police. It happens more often than not in cases where the perp is someone with a lot of power. Victim blaming is bullshit. You are the one not fully thinking it through.

[demigoddess]

24. Mr. you don't get it. This was long ago, it is hard today

back then it was impossible. I know. Personal experience. It was not just actresses but damn near every woman because they could/can get away with it.

[Jamastiene]

37. Exactly.

There is so much more to it than just career and image. The victim becomes a victim all over again, because then the person they tried to turn into the police comes after them for revenge and the police are no help at all. I'm not sure what fairy tale land some people live in where they think you can just turn someone who is powerful into the police and the police will actually do something about. That almost never happens.

[forest444]

3. But why wait 30 or 40 years to make the accusations public?

Last edited Sun Feb 8, 2015, 07:59 PM - Edit history (1)

And all together, in quick succession?

It may all be true; then again, the circumstances around these revelations are more than suspicious in themselves.

Personally, I don't know or very much like Bill Cosby (on account of some of the very judgmental things he's said over the years against his fellow African-Americans - knowing full well such things make great fodder for bigots). Just let's not rush to judgment.

[Hekate]

5. It's amazing how many at DU keep asking that question, no matter how many times sex-abuse survivors

...KEEP TELLING THEM, in words of one syllable, why we don't speak up until years later, and why just one person having the courage to speak up will give the others (and there are ALWAYS others) the courage to come forward as well.

My recommendation to you, forest, is to look up the Cosby files here at DU and pay attention to what women are saying.

[Vic Tree]

9. We're guys

Evil guys.

[Hekate]

28. Way to deflect the conversation & shame women into silence because someone's feelings might get hurt

Did I (or anyone else) say all men are evil? Did I (or anyone else) say all women are victims?

If the shoe fits, wear it; if it doesn't fit, walk on. But as long as we're onto a shoe metaphor, try walking in someone else's shoes for a day or a year. Gain some insight into a society-wide problem that transcends age and race. Read DU's Cosby archives -- it's all recent, so you don't even have to go very far back.

In the meantime, try not to be obtuse.

[forest444]

15. I'll do that

And again, I certainly wouldn't put any of those allegations past him. Cosby has been a very wealthy man for almost half a century, such that he fits the profile of the cavalier man of means who, frankly, can become jaded and spoiled in his relationships with others - especially young women.

But bandwagons make bad juries, and if he's innocent I think I speak for everyone here at DU when I say that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

For now, anyway.

[Schema Thing]

20. c'mon "as if choreographed"??

Think about that for a minute.

[SunSeeker]

25. Women are never believed.

If it's one woman reporting it, she is a gold digging liar.

If it's a dozen women, it is "choreographed."



As Jay Leno said, in Saudi Arabia, you need 2 women to testify; here you need 25.

Jay Leno defends women alleging sexual assault by Bill Cosby:

[Laurian]

6. I'm old and I remember the world 30-40 years ago.

If you think these kinds of allegations are not taken seriously now, I can assure you they were much more easily dismissed and had more dire repercussions back then. I do not fault these women for their silence against a powerful man during that time. I am glad things have changed enough for the truth to finally come out, but I'm bothered by the way some treat these victims even now.

[Lars39]

12. Not just "easily dismissed", not even in the realm of possibility for someone of Cosby's status

during that time period.
Just watched an original Star Trek episode where the yeoman was almost raped by the evil Kirk. She said she didn't want to report it because she didn't want to get Kirk in trouble. On one of the most progressive shows of its time, too.

[braddy]

7. Because that didn't happen, why do we keep having to explain things over and over and over?

Last edited Sun Feb 8, 2015, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)

[LiberalElite]

10. You're not really implying

that this is just a consipiracy among all these women, right? A Let's Get Cosby Movement?

[JohnnyRingo]

19. Nobody wants to be the first.

I don't want to pile on you, but the first person to come forth in a serial rape case is victimized again if the accused is famous and wealthy. The alleged rapist often unleashes a PR campaign to discredit the rape victim's integrity.

Many a Catholic priest have also seen this happen to them, usually decades after the shame wears off the victim. In that case, it's the choir boy's word against that of a notable pillar in the community.

I'm not about to insult you, I assume you just never thought of it that way. Personally, I haven't followed the Cosby case closely enough to pass judgement either way. I'm no Nancy Grace.

[forest444]

22. It's ok. I've read the replies, and never once felt piled on.

My comment was provocative, I realize that. But my initial remarks should not be read without the caveat that we really can't put it past Cosby to have done these things. I meant that unequivocally.

What bothers me is the bandwagon that seems to be gathering against Cosby, with no proof at all. In the case that he's innocent of all such allegations - as unlikely as that may be - shouldn't we allow him at least some benefit of the doubt?

As I mentioned, that fact that he's a very rich man and has been for over four decades, does fit him in the profile we've come to know so well: the cavalier multimillionaire who becomes thoughtless of others, and of young women especially.

If he's guilty of any of most of these things, we probably won't have to wait too long for indications of that: expect him to betray his guilt in some way before too long. Until then, it would probably be fair of us to reserve judgment.

[braddy]

26. The first police report against Cosby was filed in 2000 for a 1998 assault.

In 2005 Andrea Constand, director of operations for Temple University's women's basketball team, Cosby's alma mater and where he sits on the board and has (had) heavy involvement with their athletics, filed a police report after she say he drugged and raped her.

Constand brought forth 13 more women willing to testify to his sexual assaults, mostly drugging and raping, Cosby settled out of court with her in 2006.

These stories had a hard time breaking out through the media, ignoring them, but today is different, and Cosby made a terrible public relations mistake when he first reacted to the comedian's stage remarks, which broke this story out again, and this time the count is up to about 30 women coming forth.

"Watch Tina Fey Joke About Bill Cosby Rape Allegations on SNL in 2005"
http://time.com/3620097/tina-fey-bill-cosby-rape-allegations-snl/

[forest444]

27. I see. Good to know.

The media, when covering such stories should mention these precedents to the public. Most people don't have the time, interest, or skills to research key facts such as the one you just mentioned. Precedent, when it's there, helps frame the discussion by preventing misconceptions (such as: why did the alleged victims wait 30-to-40 years to file charges?).

Thank you for that.

[braddy]

29. True, so often they leave us asking obvious questions that the reporting should have answered

or they don't give the context, or any hint of a timeline.

That is one way they have kept the Cosby reputation intact while he was a real sleaze bag, for the last 50 years.

Remember that he got married in January of 1964, and was such a philanderer, and such a regular at the Playboy mansion that he was considered Hugh Hefner's best friend.

One of his victims was shocked that the contact number he gave her, was to his home phone, others say they were groped or assaulted with his wife in the house.

Here is a hint of his desire to control women, and how far he would go to do it.

It was legal, but it sounds as creepy as can be.

"Late Show With David Letterman' staffers relieved they don't have to deal with upcoming Bill Cosby appearance'
Female staffers at “The Late Show With David Letterman” are breathing a collective sigh of relief they don’t have to deal with an upcoming Bill Cosby appearance. A source close to the show tells Confidenti@l that the disgraced comic had some truly bizarre backstage requests.

“He’d include as a request, before he arrived, that the young girls, interns and assistants, all had to gather around in the green room backstage and sit down and watch him eat curry,” our stunned source explains. “No one would say anything, and he would sit silently eating and make us watch and want us to watch.”

While our source adds that everyone hated the odd preshow ritual, they were asked by producers to do it because “that’s what he (Cosby) wanted.”

[truthisfreedom]

14. Ok people, let's not blame the victims.

I grew up in a violent religious cult. Many of the victims are still in denial, some of us blame ourselves, hell my own brother blames me for not going to my school counselor. I was scared. I feared retaliation. I know what these women feared... Being blacklisted in Hollywood or other places of work.

[FailureToCommunicate]

18. I also heard the show was canceled because of our treacherous snow storm. A major protest was also

planned where he was to appear...

Yeah, probably was the snow.

[47of74]

35. Yeah, looks like about a foot by Tuesday.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.3584&lon=-71.05977&site=all&smap=1#.VNgm4na2FKo

Of course the snow storm is just a convenient excuse, gives Cosby cover to cancel the show without having to admit the protests scared him off.