In late 2014, Bill Cosby had one of the most astoundingly quick career turnarounds in the history of show business. What initially appeared to be a resurgence in popularity quickly gave way to an onslaught of rape and sexual abuse allegations. While no charges have been filed, it's safe to say that the aging comedian's career is essentially over.
One such indication was the cancellation of Cosby's upcoming sitcom with NBC. While it never fully made it off the ground, it was clear that NBC wasn't happy with the comedian's new reputation, and subsequently killed the project entirely. That was back in November, and two months later, NBC has yet another nail in the coffin Cosby's career is currently resting in.
When asked by reporters about NBC refusing to work with Cosby ever again, NBC President Robert Greenblatt put it bluntly: "I think it's safe to say."
According to Greenblatt, as the accusations and stories came forward, it became impossible for both he and the network to ignore:
"Fifteen women came out and accused [Cosby] of having done what they accused him of doing. While over the years, we'd heard some of those accusations and we knew there were a couple of settlements and what not...it didn't seem to be the sort of thing that was critical mass. When we realized that there seemed to be so much more of it, it wasn't something that we could just go, 'Oh, we're not sure.'"
Despite the lack of charges pressed against Cosby, NBC isn't the first to pull the plug on collaborations with the comedian. A Netflix special titled 77 was supposed to air on Cosby's 77th birthday, but it was also pulled as the allegations continued to pile up.
Greenblatt also commented on whether or not Cosby could be considered innocent, and why he canned the project early:
"He hasn't been proven guilty of anything, so I don't want to be the one that says guilty until proven innocent, but when that many people come out and have similar complaints and it becomes such a tainted situation, there was no way that we could move forward with it."
Cosby's career isn't completely dead yet: the comedian recently confirmed that he was moving forward with his U.S. comedy tour, though it is expected that protests outside of his venues (a trend that started during a recent Canadian tour) will continue.
