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THE JAILING OF BILL COSBY
Popular comedian and beloved television star, Bill Cosby, was convicted in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. He was sentenced on September 24 to three to ten years in Pennsylvania state prison, which means that he would be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of three years.
Cosby, who will be one of the three oldest inmates at the Pennsylvania state prison, was declared a sexual predator by the judge which means that he will have to undergo mandatory counseling for life. He is expected to serve his sentence in a private prison cell.
Although Cosby was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Constand, dozens of women, at least 60 of them, have made similar accusations against him. It is the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the #Me Too era.
The unanimous guilty verdict rendered by a jury in a U.S. court against the groundbreaking actor, Bill Cosby, known as “American Dad” has tarnished his reputation, destroyed his legacy and ruined his destiny. It is hard to overstate that the 81-year old pop culture icon and the star of the Cosby Show who has more than 50 years in showbiz, had racked up enough awards and honors to fill a small museum.
Following his convictions, several institutions have withdrawn their honors awarded to Cosby.
Among the most significant honors that have been stripped from Cosby are achievement awards bestowed upon him by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor an American civilian can receive.
Of the 42 universities that had conferred honorary doctorate degrees on Cosby, 33 of them, including Temple University, which he attended, had revoked the honors.
Bill Cosby was an iconic figure in the field of entertainment. He regaled millions around the world and dazzled them with his brilliance and comical jokes; he was star of the American television sitcom, The Cosby Show, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from 1984 to 1992.
It depicted Cosby as Cliff Huxtable, the father in the Huxtable family as an upper middle-class, African-American family from Brooklyn, New York with four children.
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 1990s. It single-handedly revived the movie industry in the sitcom category and increased NBC’s ratings.
It was the most popular family show in America and was ranked 28th on NBC television list of 50 greatest shows by TV Guide.
From the time the sexual assault and harassment allegations became public and charges were filed against Bill Cosby, many of his friends claimed that he was innocent and stood by him. They opined that the fact that the accusers waited for decades to come forward was troubling and that it was an orchestrated plot in order to obtain money from the comedian.
Admittedly, Cosby had settled 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, his friends realized that the seriousness of the charges against him could ruin his career and place him in jail, which is what happened.
Whether the allegations were true or false, do not matter anymore, because a court of law has declared him guilty.
For those who were violated by Bill Cosby, we hope they can find closure and peace and move on with their lives.
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