Bill Cosby’s career faced significant downfall following numerous allegations of rape and sexual assault. The comedian was embroiled in multiple civil and criminal proceedings, resulting in a three-year prison sentence and a hiatus from work since 2014.
In 2018, Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, leading to a sentence of up to ten years in prison. However, in June 2021, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court overturned this conviction, resulting in his release from incarceration. Over 60 women have accused Cosby of various offenses, including rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, and sexual harassment.
The alleged incidents span from the mid-1960s to 2008, occurring in ten U.S. states and one Canadian province. The accusations reveal a consistent and predatory pattern of behavior, often involving the alleged use of drugs.
According to the accusers, Cosby would offer drinks or pills—such as Quaaludes or what he referred to as “herbal” pills—that they claim left them incapacitated, rendering them unable to resist or move. In a civil deposition from 2005, Cosby acknowledged acquiring Quaaludes with the intention of using them on women for sexual purposes. Many of the accusers were aspiring models or actresses who viewed Cosby as a mentor, a position he allegedly exploited to gain their trust prior to the assaults.
The women reported being sexually assaulted while they were impaired, disoriented, or unconscious. Some claimed they received payments from Cosby afterward, which they interpreted as attempts to silence them. A former NBC employee alleged that he settled with eight women on Cosby’s behalf in the 1970s. Due to statutes of limitations, most of the allegations did not lead to criminal charges.
Despite this, the allegations prompted significant legal action. Cosby faced criminal charges in Pennsylvania stemming from Andrea Constand’s accusations, a former Temple University employee. In 2018, he was convicted and sentenced to three to ten years in prison. His conviction was later overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, citing a procedural due process issue related to an unwritten non-prosecution agreement with a previous district attorney.
Numerous civil lawsuits have been filed against Cosby, who has consistently maintained his innocence and denied all allegations, asserting that the encounters were consensual.
Feud with Eddie Murphy
The longstanding feud between Cosby and Eddie Murphy dates back to a phone call in which Cosby criticized Murphy for his use of explicit language in his comedy. During his 2015 acceptance speech for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Murphy remarked, “Bill has one of these (awards). Did you all make Bill give his back? You know you f—– up when they want you to give your trophies back.”
Later that same year, while Cosby was incarcerated, Murphy took another jab at him during his return to Saturday Night Live. He quipped, “If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet.” He concluded with a reference to his ten children, saying, “Who’s America’s Dad now?”
In response, Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, issued a statement suggesting that Murphy had “sold himself back to being a Hollywood slave” and criticized him for attacking Cosby. Wyatt noted, “Remember, Mr. Murphy, that Bill Cosby became legendary because he used comedy to humanize all races, religions, and genders—but your attacking Mr. Cosby helps you embark on just becoming clickbait. Hopefully, you will be amenable to having a meeting of the minds conversation.”
Murphy later indicated during an episode of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee that Cosby’s animosity toward him stemmed from jealousy. He stated, “He had a weird thing with me that he didn’t have with other comics. It was mean. He wasn’t doing that with everybody; he was doing that with me specifically. He was s—-y with me.”
