Bill Cosby has been dealing with allegations of sexual assault on and off for years. And when the issue resurfaced recently, America's favorite dad is predictably tight-lipped.
According to comedian Hannibal Burress, Cosby has been accused of sex crimes over the last 20 years against 13 women. Sexual assault allegations against Cosby are seeing light again after a comedy skit by Buress captured on video went viral online. The TV star was never convicted of any crime but his most recent case was in 2005 where settled out of court with a woman who filed a civil suit which included testimony from 13 other women.
On Thursday, Barbara Bowman, a former actress, wrote a piece for The Washington Post, detailing the time Cosby drugged and raped her several times in 1985. On Saturday, Cosby appeared in NPR's Weekend Edition with his wife Camille to talk about their African art collection on loan to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art but the he was not able to escape questioning from Scott Simon.
"This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days. I'm in the news business. I have to ask the question. Do you have any response to those charges?" asked Simon, to which Cosby simply shook his head and declined to comment.
John P. Schmitt, Cosby's lawyer, on the other, did have something to say, posting Sunday on the comedian's site to acknowledge that decades-old, discredited allegations against the TV star had resurfaced.
"The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true," he said.
Schmitt added that Cosby doesn't intend to dignify any of the allegations by making any comment. The lawyer also relayed Cosby's thanks to all his fans for their continued outpouring of support, assuring them that he's doing his best work at age 77.
"There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives," ended Schmitt.
Aside from Bowman, Tamara Green, a lawyer from California, also alleged that Cosby had drugged and assaulted her in the 1970s. Publicist Joan Tarshis, also a former actress, also came forward with allegations of her own, claiming she was attacked in 1969 by Cosby. This makes her the latest woman to accuse Cosby of sexual assault. Andrea Constand was the woman from 2005, a former employee from Cosby's alma mater, Temple University.
