A LEGACY DESTROYED

Jun 03, 2018 Editorial

The unanimous guilty verdict rendered by a jury in a U.S. court in Philadelphia against the popular comedian, Bill Cosby, has tarnished his reputation and destroyed his legacy. Several universities and colleges in the U.S. which have conferred “Honorary Doctorate ” degrees on the comedian have rescinded them.
Also, Cosby had to return several medals and certificates he received from various institutions and organizations.
Bill Cosby was an iconic figure in the field of entertainment as a comedian and a movie star. Not only did he entertain millions in America and around the world, but he also dazzled them with his brilliance and comical jokes. The American television sitcom, The Cosby Show , aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 1984 to April 1992.
It depicted Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable, the father in the Huxtable family as an upper middle-class, African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York with four children. In the sitcom, Cosby was seen as the greatest television dad of all time.
According to TV Guide, the show which was watched by hundreds of millions around the world was television’s biggest hit in the 1980s and early 1990s. It single-handedly revived the movie industry, especially in the sitcom category as well as increased NBC’s ratings fortunes.
It was ranked 28th on NBC television list of 50 greatest shows by TV Guide, and was the most popular family show in America and elsewhere.
From the time the sexual assault and harassment allegations became public and charges were filed against Bill Cosby, many of his friends stood by him. They believed that the mere fact that accusers waited for decades to come forward were troubling. It looks as though it was an orchestrated plot in order to obtain money from the comedian.
Admittedly, Cosby did settle a lawsuit filed against him by one of his accusers in which he admitted wrongdoing.
But as more women came forward with public accusations of sexual abuse and rape by Cosby, they realized that the seriousness of the charges against him could ruin his career and place him in jail. Even though none of his friends was there when the said allegations took place, some felt that Cosby was not innocent either.
Others believe that he was innocent because the women knew what they were doing at the time. Whether the allegations were true or false, it does not matter anymore, because a court of law has declared him guilty.
Many people in the media had used drugs as a way to cope with the pressures of fame. For them, drugs was a way of getting away or escaping the sad or pressured reality they lived in.
Most of the clubs and bars and their owners had encouraged the use of drugs as a way of getting their outfits hyped so as to attract patrons.
In general, women who are sexually abused mostly never talk about it or share it with anyone, not even family members because of the embarrassment and the different stigmas associated with being raped or sexually assaulted.
For those who were violated by Bill Cosby, we hope they can find closure and peace and move on with their lives. But Bill Cosby who is respected and highly educated should have known that his skeletons would have eventually caught up with him.
It’s very sad to see a legacy that we all grew up with destroyed right before our eyes.

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