by Hera Hoi – EM TV Online
Bill Cosby’s sexual abuse allegations have been getting louder and bigger in recent weeks. This has caused a former NBC employee to come out and confess covering for the actor’s womanising activities back in The Cosby Show‘s glory days.
The 90-year-old NBC veteran employee, Frank Scotti went on an exclusive interview last week with The Daily News to speak of Emmy award-winning Cosby’s past life and how he used Scotti to guard his door while he invited models into his dressing room.
Scotti claims that he had delivered monthly payments to eight different women whom he believes Cosby was having sex with.
One of the eight women who received payments claimed that Cosby is the father of her daughter, actress ‘Autumn Jackson’. Scotti also stated that over $100,000 was paid to Shawn Jackson over the years since Cosby’s affair began in 1974.
NBC however reports that another woman who received payments, Alva Chinn, has spoken out in defence of Cosby’s honour, simply stating that the money orders sent to her were a token of Cosby’s generosity and were to assist her in paying her son’s school fees.
Chinn, a model and an actress who made a few appearances on The Cosby Show, says the source should have consulted her before releasing the money documents.
Since AP’s interview with Cosby at the Smithsonian Institution on November 6th, more women have come out and new allegations have emerged, adding on to the numerous allegations made against the comedian.
The lingering sexual abuse allegations have led to a halt in the development of an NBC sitcom that would have portrayed Cosby as a patriarchal father. Netfilx postponed plans to debut a new stand-up special with Cosby, TV Land removed its re-runs of The Cosby Show from its website and numerous other stand-up shows were cancelled, reports the Huffington Post.
Among the accusations from dozens of women ranging from a comic writer to a Playboy playmate, the only allegation that turned into a lawsuit was one in 2006, filed by Andrea Constand who claimed he raped her in 2004. If the lawsuit had gone to trial, 13 ‘other’ women were prepared to testify against Cosby.
On Friday, Bill Cosby’s high profile lawyer, Martin Singer slammed all emerging accusations on Cosby’s abuse allegations.
Singer released a statement to ABC on Friday expressing amazement at how the media has rushed into stories before they have even been confirmed. Singer blames the media for the vast amount of attention Cosby’s renewed allegations have gained in such a short period, especially at a time when he was on the verge of making a comeback.
“Lawsuits are filed against people in the public eye every day. There has never been a shortage of lawyers willing to represent people with claims against rich, powerful men, so it makes no sense that not one of these new women who just came forward for the first time now ever asserted a legal claim back at the time they allege they had been sexually assaulted.
“This situation is an unprecedented example of the media’s breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration or adherence to traditional journalistic standards.
“Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end? It is long past time for this media vilification of Mr Cosby to stop.”
On the contrary, the recent claims by these women were from 30-50 years ago and were committed at a time when sexual abuse or rape cases and their forms were not only highly sensitive but also barely understood by females themselves.
The 77-year-old legendary comic was the first African-American to make history on Network TV. He is a philanthropist, who has been honoured with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and has also been applauded for making the largest donation to a historically black college in Atlanta (Spelman College).
The renewed and escalating allegations have made Cosby’s legacy as a humanitarian, family-oriented man and a comic questionable.
Amidst the allegations, Cosby himself has either denied the detailed accusations or declined to comment.
While some are still in doubt on whether to leave Cosby on their hero or role model list, his sold out show on Friday at Melbourne, Florida proves that some still remain loyal to Cosby. The show on Friday left an eager audience in a standing ovation.
