Actor and comedian Bill Cosby, 79, recently went on trial for three counts of aggravated assault. Canadian-born Andrea Constand, 44, accused him of drugging and molesting her at his Elkins Park mansion in 2004 when she came over to discuss "business-related matters." At that time, she managed the women's basketball team at Cosby's alma mater, Temple University in Philadelphia. Naturally, Constand was traumatized by the assault and did not reveal what happened for over a year. She told police on the matter:
Before I was going to say anything to anyone I had to put my own thoughts and feelings together. I was emotionally shocked. I was still traumatized about the whole situation. I had some emotional stress I was dealing with. I needed to come to terms with this on my own.
Constand went to the police in 2005, which started a criminal investigation. Due to insufficient evidence, the case was dropped. Constand filed a civil lawsuit against Cosby later in the year with 13 anonymous women making similar claims. It was settled out of court in 2006.
These events went forgotten until 2014, when comedian Hannibal Buress brought it up during one of his shows. The bit went viral, and prompted 60 other women to come forward with similar claims against Bill Cosby. Constand filed to have Cosby's deposition, in which he admitted to drugging and assaulting several women and buying their silence, unsealed, as he had broken a nondisclosure deal by responding to the new accusations. Although Pennsylvania's 12-year statute of limitations for rape and run out, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office reopened the case with the deposition as new evidence.
The jury spent 52 hours within 6 days, significantly longer than the trial lasted, deliberating and came to a deadlock. The judge declared a mistrial, and the district attorney immediately vowed to retry the case.
Outside of the courtroom, longtime fans and others have come into the same deadlock that the jury did. While one side cannot believe that the genial comedian once named "America's Dad" was capable of such a heinous crime, the other emphasizes that this rape case is no different than any other. Women are reluctant to report that they were assaulted for fear that they will not be believed. Women would especially be afraid to report if "America's Dad" was the perpetrator. Celebrities have often gotten away with violence against women, from Johnny Depp allegedly assaulting ex-wife Amber Heard throughout their marriage yet not facing charges or damaging his career, to Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women (among other accusations) and winning the 2016 Presidential Election instead of facing any sort of criminal charge. Unlike these examples, Bill Cosby has faced non-legal consequences. Before and after the trial, universities revoked the honorary degrees he recieved. Among other things, reruns of his shows no longer play on television, his name was removed from educational scholarships, and murals featuring him in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. have been repainted.
Young people would most likely be most familiar with Bill Cosby's work with the animated show Little Bill, which ran on Nick Jr. from 1999 to 2003. He was also most famous in the 70s, 80s, and 90s for the cartoon Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids between 1972 to 1985, and the groundbreaking 1984-1992 sitcom The Cosby Show. All three of these shows provided valuable and important life lessons. Fat Albert discussed touchy subjects such as drugs, gangs, teen pregnancy, racism, and alcohol. The Cosby Show featured similar lessons as many sitcoms at the time did. Because of this, it is difficult for longtime fans of Bill Cosby to believe that he is capable of such crimes. He dedicated his life to entertainment and education.
Still, it is essential to acknowledge that even "advanced" societies such as America do not and have never taken sexual assault nearly as seriously as they should. Still, Bill Cosby's celebrity status is definitely a factor in the tension and confusing regarding this case. If he were not a celebrity, the case would have played out much much differently. The 2005 deposition would likely have been enough to convict him. At the end of the day, his fate is up to the jury's determination and what the law says to do next.
The case does say a great deal about the terrible ambivalence America has regarding rape and how celebrities can too often get away with anything. Still, it should be noted that unlike Donald Trump and Johnny Depp, Bill Cosby's case has actually made it to court. Chris Brown also suffered legal consequences in 2009 for his assault on his girlfriend at that time, Rihanna. Bill Cosby and Chris Brown are both African-Americans. We cannot ignore the presence of white privilege among both regular offenders' and celebrity offenders' cases. For example, Brock Turner and Cory Batey were both college athletes who raped unconcious women. Batey, a black young man, was found guilty and received a sentence of 15 to 25 years. Brock Turner, a white young man, was found guilty and received a sentence of 6 months, released in 3. Like celebrities, college athletes quite often are treated with unjustified lenience. Still, Turner's white privilege allowed him to suffer a lesser consequence than Cory Batey for the exact same crime. Bill Cosby's race should be irrelevant for his defense, but part of the discussion outside.
Bill Cosby is responsible for the childhoods of Americans young and old, thanks to his brilliant work in TV and comedy. He is also responsible for drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women. He said so in his deposition. Depositions are under oath. He admitted to it in 2005, so what changed? It is a great and important thing that there is a discussion about his crimes. People are acknowledging his celebrity privilege, America's ambivalence towards rape, and the privilege (or lack thereof) that sexual assaulters receive due to the color of their skin.
I dream of a future where society gets their priorities in order, so that people who are sexually assaulted can feel more comfortable reporting crimes and that justice will always be served. This case is one for the history books, but should be among the stories of Donald Trump, Johnny Depp, Chris Brown, Brock Turner, and Corey Batey. Before anything can change, we must acknowledge society's screwed up priorities. Although it is unfair to everybody that justice is not served among these people, the best thing to do is to about it is learn from our mistakes. This should be a wake-up call instead of something to keep getting at a deadlock about. We must keep discussing until everybody wakes up.
