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 The career of the once beloved comedian from TV's "The Cosby
Show" is in tatters after more than 40 women came forward in the
past year to accuse him of drugging and sexually assaulting them
in incidents dating back decades.
For years, Crosby was a sought-after speaker at graduation
ceremonies and other college events across the United States,
giving dozens of speeches that amused and inspired his mostly
young audiences.
Recordings of speeches from the 2000s reveal different sides of
Cosby: the comedian, the avuncular father figure, the fierce
moralist.
"I am worried about the class of 2003," Cosby said in May of
that year at Hampton University, addressing issues of drugs,
alcohol and teenage pregnancies. "Are you going to put up with
the fact that we may just set the record for youngest
grandmother?"
Such speeches highlight what U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno
ruled was a "stark contrast" between Cosby's public persona and
the serious assault allegations against him.
Robreno on Monday ordered the unsealing of testimony showing
that Cosby, now 77, had in 2005 admitted obtaining powerful
Quaaludes sedatives with the intent of giving them to women he
sought sex with.
Cosby has not been criminally charged and his attorneys have
made no comment on the unsealed testimony.
PUBLIC SOAP BOX
At a speech at Hamilton University in October 2003, Cosby won
over the crowd with "hilarious comedy" according to the
University's website, including a joke about how taking Novocain
affects speech.
Robreno wrote that Cosby had "donned the mantle of the public
moralist and mounted the proverbial electronic or print soap box
to volunteer his views on, among other things, childrearing,
family life, education and crime."
Explaining his decision on Monday to unseal the 2005 testimony,
Robreno said the difference between the comedian's private and
public life was a matter of significant public interest.
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Judge Robreno noted a widely publicized speech given by Cosby at an
NAACP awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in May 2004 in which he
denounced irresponsible parenting, poor education and lax family
values as reasons for crime and poverty in black communities.
“What is it with young girls getting after some girl who wants to
still remain a virgin. Who are these sick black people and where did
they come from and why haven’t they been parented to shut up?”
Crosby said to applause.
Three years later, Cosby was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards
Hall of Fame, not just because of his fame as a comedian and actor.
Image Awards Chairperson Clayola Brown, announcing the honor,
praised his "his outreach efforts, real life storytelling, emphasis
on family values and encouragement for peace and love."
An NAACP spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue.
Jamilah Lemieux, senior digital editor at Ebony, the nation's oldest
African-American lifestyle publication, said that even prior to the
recent sex assault allegations, many in the black community had long
broken their emotional ties to Cosby.
"His moralist identity is one that a lot of African-Americans took
issue with. It's one thing to advocate for images of black nuclear
families on TV and another thing to speak negatively about poor
black families and people who are facing challenges," she said.
Lemieux said that for all Cosby's philanthropic work at historically
black colleges like Spelman College in Atlanta, and his alma mater
Temple University in Philadelphia, she doubted whether he could now
change the court of public opinion.
"The way he treated actual black people was not in line with the
values that he promoted in his work," she said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Edward McAllister; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
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