Bill Cosby rep. calls W. Kamau Bell a ‘PR hack’ over docuseries on the comedian’s alleged transgressions
Bell's four-part docuseries 'We Need to Talk about Bill Cosby' is scheduled to air Sunday on Showtime.
Comedian W. Kamau Bell‘s new documentary about Bill Cosby‘s alleged misdeeds hasn’t hit the airwaves yet, but a representative for the 84-year-old four-time Emmy winner is already doing damage control.
A spokesperson for Cosby referred to Bell as a “PR hack” in the subject line of a lengthy emailed statement recently sent to members of the press ahead of the network television premiere of Bell’s four-part docuseries We Need to Talk about Bill Cosby.
The doc, directed by Bell, examines the The Cosby Show star’s successful career and the sexual misconduct allegations levied against him by dozens of women over the course of several decades. It premiered at the virtual 2022 Sundance Film Festival on Saturday and is scheduled to air on Showtime this Sunday.
Cosby’s camp denounced the special on Wednesday and defended his legacy.
“Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work… because of race and gender… within the expanses of the entertainment industries,” a Cosby spokesperson said in a statement to EW and several other media outlets.
“Mr. Cosby continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths… intentionally,” the statement continued. “None have ever been proven in any court of law,” the spokesperson added separately, according to EW.
Cosby’s spokesperson reiterated the comedian’s years-long denial of the sexual assault allegations made against him, adding, “Let’s talk about Bill Cosby. He wants our nation to be what it proclaims itself to be: a democracy.”
In response to the statement from Cosby’s camp, Bell told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday that he finds it “funny” that the man he once idolized for his comedic talent continues to see himself as a target.
“The funny thing about this is, because of how America works and how racism works here, there are ways in which a system of white supremacy would target a powerful Black man to bring him down — and that has happened throughout history in this country,” Bell said. “But that doesn’t always mean that the Black man didn’t do something wrong…
“There are racist forces that are happy for Bill Cosby’s downfall, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t more than 60 women who have accused him of rape and sexual assault, and those are credible accusations.”
Cosby was released from prison in June of last year after his 2018 aggravated indecent assault conviction for a 2004 alleged attack on Andrea Constand was overturned, as theGrio reported previously.
In a 2005 deposition hearing during Constand’s initial civil suit against Cosby, the comedian admitted acquiring seven prescriptions of Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women with whom he wanted to have sex, according to CNN.
Cosby only revealed that information after prosecutors in the civil case agreed not to pursue criminal charges against him. The admission was still used to help secure Cosby’s 2018 conviction.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court determined in June that the Quaaludes admission should have been inadmissible for Cosby’s criminal trial due to his prior agreement, leading to his release from prison.
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