The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

DESPITE growing controversy over renewed allegations that he sexually assaulted women in several incidents decades ago, American comedian Bill Cosby is still expected to perform in the Bahamas tonight in a charity event.

Mr Cosby has cancelled several appearances in the United States and had comedy shows on NBC and Netflix axed this week after the allegations resurfaced.

The Tribune attempted to contact The Links, Incorporated, the women’s organisation bringing Mr Cosby to the Atlantis theatre, Paradise Island, but calls were not returned up to press time.

However, a source close to the matter said because Mr Cosby has never been charged and the allegations “are not new” there was no reason to cancel the show, especially since “it’s for charity”.

Bahamians have expressed concerns on social media that the show had not been cancelled, despite the increasing furore.

One person asked: “Our move Links Inc, big networks are drop him, what are you going to do? Do you have any real principles or morals or are you just in it for the cash?”

Another user said: “So we just going to bring this man here and forget all the things he is accused of doing? I know he hasn’t been charged but shouldn’t a woman’s group be concerned about bringing him here, anything for money I guess.”

The Links, Incorporated, is an established international non-profit organisation consisting of 12,000 influential professional women of colour, with 280 chapters in 41 US states and one in the Bahamas.

Founded in 1946, it is one of America’s “oldest and largest volunteer service organisations of extraordinary women committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry” according to its website.

Recently, several women have accused Mr Cosby, one of America’s favourite stars, of sexual assaults going back almost 30 years, the latest being model and tv host Janice Dickinson. The comedian has always denied the accusations and has never faced any charges.

In a statement at the weekend, Mr Cosby’s lawyer said the veteran comedian will not comment on “decade old” allegations of sexual assault which have resurfaced in recent weeks. He said the charges had been discredited, and that repeating them “does not make them true”.

His lawyer said the actor “would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work.” He said Mr Cosby did not intend to “dignify” the allegations with a comment and would make no further statements.

Mr Cosby had been scheduled to appear on David Letterman’s late night talk show on CBS last night but the planned appearance was cancelled. The show declined to say whether Mr Cosby withdrew from the appearance or the show decided to replace him.

The cancellation on Mr Letterman’s show follows a few weeks after another on the Queen Latifah daytime talk show. In that case, according to The New York Times, the show reported that the change was made at Mr Cosby’s request.

NBC announced yesterday that a situation comedy Mr Cosby had been developing has been cancelled and Netflix made a similar move on Tuesday night, shelving a comedy special to mark his birthday that had been slated to premiere on November 28.

Last Thursday, The Washington Post published a first-person article online by a former actress, Barbara Bowman, who claimed that Mr Cosby drugged and raped her on more than one occasion in the mid-1980s during a period when he was mentoring her as a young actress. That was at the same time he was starring in the biggest hit on television, “The Cosby Show”.

Those allegations follow similar charges by other women, one of whom, filed a civil suit against Mr Cosby in 2005, which promised to include testimony from 13 other then-unnamed women. The suit was settled for an undisclosed amount. Both Mr Cosby and his lawyers have issued denials of the charges at various points.

Last month, standup comedian and former Saturday Night Live writer Hannibal Buress unleashed a violent tirade about Mr Cosby, calling him a “rapist” and a “sanctimonious hypocrite”.