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In the wake of the multiplying rape allegations against Bill Cosby, lots of people have been weighing in. (Not, notably, Cosby himself.) Entertainment reporters have written "woulda coulda shoulda" pieces about years-old interviews they conducted with Cosby. Conan O'Brien was the first of the late-night hosts to make a crack about it. Let's not talk about Don Lemon.
Local comedian Curtis Cook has chimed in, too. There was the obligatory funny tweet: âAmerica needs a new Black comedy dad. Someone find me a sweater collection & an informed, consenting woman I can impregnate multiple times.â But he also wrote a heartfelt blog post about growing up on Cosby cassette tapes and watching The Cosby Show reruns with his grandmother, and how he now feels abandoned by the man he once considered his comedy hero.
"I am aware that what's least important in the wake of all the pain Cosby's secret legacy [has] left behind is how it kinda hurts some kid who really looked up to him in a time of need," Curtis writes. "But I really looked up to him, and I really wish any one of the men I looked up to could've been just half the man he purported to be. I really wish I could still show my kids The Cosby Show with pride.... Comics are often asked, 'What made you want to get into this' or, 'Who are your greatest influences?' For years I was confident with my answer: 'I've wanted to do this since I was eight and I first heard a Bill Cosby cassette.' And while I know that will always be true, I don't know if I can say that anymore. I don't know that I want to look someone in the eyes and tell them that a rapist is the reason I've been trying to be funny my entire life."
Read the whole post here.
WWeek 2015