Modified On February 8, 2005
The DA with jurisdiction in this case has been on the local newscasts a lot (he’s Bruce Cutler and he gets a lot of face time on the Philly newscasts) and he had been making it sound as if the whole affair would be over in a matter of minutes. With today’s developments, it looks as if we might be watching re-enactments on Court TV some time in the not too distant future.
The young lady who filed the complaint has gone public and she claims to have audiotapes of conversations between her and Cosby.
Cosby’s people are floating a story that the alleged victim’s mother phoned up Cosby early on in the proceedings and demanded money. (Cosby’s people want us to believe that the alleged victim and her family are in it for the cash.)
Cosby is on the record as saying the contact was consensual.
Zooming out even further, other folks are debating whether the imbroglio discredits Cosby’s recent speeches with regard to the problems of inner-city minorities. The contention being that Cosby (who, we’re to believe, has been a faithful husband up until now) automatically forfeits his moral authority due to the salacious nature of the allegations. Did anyone believe that Cosby was faithful prior to this? Regardless, did it have anything to do with the content of his recent speeches? Good question. Are we capable of separating Cliff Huxtable from Bill Cosby? Does Cosby’s moral authority derive from his identity as Bill Cosby or from his faux identity as Cliff Huxtable? Or a combination of both?
Looks like it’s going to trial. This has got all the earmarks of a story that lasts for a good two years, at least 18 months.