CULTURE-As evidence has continued to mount suggesting that Bill Cosby is a serial rapist, his lawyers and other representatives have continued to defend him. Even the recent release of a deposition — in which he admitted to giving women drugs to facilitate having sex with them — did not slow down the effort.
Cosby “admitted to nothing more than being one of the many people who introduced Quaaludes into their consensual sex life in the 1970s,” his lawyers argued in a document filed last week.
But one striking magazine cover could finally put an end to it all. Over a six month period, New York Magazine interviewed and photograhed 35 women who allege that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. They all appear on the cover of the latest issue — along with an empty chair, which perhaps represents other women who have not yet spoken publicly:
The picture of the women on the cover is an extraordinarily powerful rebuttal to Cosby’s public relations campaign. (The response to the story has been so great that it has crashed the servers nymag.com for hours.) The group “ranges in age from early 20s to 80 and includes supermodels Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson alongside waitresses and Playboy bunnies and journalists.”
According to New York Magazine, many of the women say they know of other women assaulted by Cosby who have not yet gone public.
In the face of these women, each of whom told their story to the magazine and were photographed individually wearing white, can Cosby’s handlers soldier on? Only time will tell. But it seems to have already influenced media coverage:
But while the public relations battle may be over, Cosby’s legal problems may just be beginning.
Legal experts who spoke to ThinkProgress believe recently surfaced information — particularly the deposition — could make him vulnerable to civil lawsuits or criminal charges. Several of his accusers have filed suit.
(Judd Legum is Editor-in-Chief of Think Progress … where this piece was first posted.) Cover graphic credit: New York Magazine
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CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 61
Pub: Jul 28, 2015
