After weeks of silence, Bill Cosby finally opened up about his rape allegations during his Melbourne, Fla. stand-up show at the King Center on Friday, Nov. 21. The actor-comedian gave a brief response to the sexual assault claims to Florida Today while backstage.
“I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos,” the 77-year-old said. “People should fact-check. People shouldn’t have to go through that and shouldn’t answer to innuendos.”
He also responded to rumors that a radio station was offering cash and prizes to people if they heckled the star as he performed on stage. “The thing is, these people are prodding and pushing people and asking people to have a frat house mentality. Now suppose someone brings a weapon or decided to do more foolishness,” Cosby said. “There will be announcements made and the stations made some disclaimers, but what if people don’t listen to what they said and they entice violence. That’s not good for anyone.”
He also compared the idea to those at a civil rights march. “When you go to a civil rights march or something like that, at least there are meetings and some organization to it and people understand how to behave,” he continued. “There may be people coming to the show that don’t know exactly what to do; there is no organization to it all.”
The former ’80s sitcom star stayed silent and only shook his head when he and his wife Camille sat down for an unrelated interview with NPR on Nov. 15. Since then, more women — including model Janice Dickinson and actress Louisa Moritz — have claimed that Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago.
Cosby’s lawyer John P. Schmitt issued a statement on Cosby’s website on Nov. 15, denying the allegations. Since then, however, TV Land has pulled all reruns of The Cosby Show and NBC dropped Cosby’s upcoming comedy project.
