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NBC, Netflix Shelve Bill Cosby Projects as Rape Claims Resurface

HeadlineNov 20, 2014

Several major media corporations have canceled projects with the entertainer and comedian Bill Cosby over new claims of rape dating back more than 40 years. On Wednesday, NBC announced it is canceling a pilot deal with Cosby while the streaming service Netflix said it would postpone an upcoming special. The network “TV Land” has also pulled reruns of “The Cosby Show” from its schedule. Cosby previously settled a case with a woman in 2004 who alleged he drugged and raped her. At the time, the plaintiff, Andrea Constand, found 13 other women to testify about similar assaults. But in recent weeks, two more women have come forward, bringing the total to at least 15. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier on Tuesday, former model Janice Dickinson became the sixth woman to go on the record, saying Cosby raped her in 1982.

Janice Dickinson: “In my room, he had given me wine and a pill. The next morning, I woke up, and I wasn’t wearing my pajamas. And I remember before I passed out that I had been sexually assaulted by this man.”

Kevin Frazier: “You took the pill, you drank the alcohol.”

Janice Dickinson: “Red wine.”

Kevin Frazier: “Red wine. And then what happened?”

Janice Dickinson: “Before I woke up in the morning, the last thing I remember was Bill Cosby in a patchwork robe, dropping his robe and getting on top of me.”

Cosby’s attorneys have called Dickinson’s claims “an outrageous and defamatory lie.” His camp has also dismissed the previous allegations from over a dozen women as “discredited,” but without explaining how. Cosby himself has been asked about the rape allegations in at least two recent interviews but has refused to answer, including this one with NPR’s Scott Simon.

Scott Simon: “This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days. [Two seconds of silence.] You’re shaking your head no. [Two seconds of silence.] I’m in the news business. I have to ask the question: Do you have any response to those charges? [Two seconds of silence.] Shaking your head no. [Two seconds of silence.] There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this. I want to give you the chance. [Five seconds of silence.] All right.”

In addition to losing the network deals, he has canceled appearances on at least two television talk shows.

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