W. Kamau Bell On Bill Cosby's Legacy

Fresh Air

NPR

Arts, Society & Culture, Books, Tv & Film

4.3 • 36.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

About 60 women have come forward accusing Cosby of drugging and raping them. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault, though that conviction was overturned on a technicality in 2021. W. Kamau Bell's new Showtime documentary series, We Need To Talk About Cosby, grapples with the comedian's tainted legacy, which Bell describes as a "third-rail" conversation for many people in the Black community. "[Cosby] was America's dad during The Cosby Show — not Black America's dad, America's dad," he says.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross.
0:02.5	Talking about Bill Cosby is still a third-rail conversation for Black people.
0:07.6	According to my guest W. Kamau Bell, he speaks from experience.
0:12.2	He directed a four-part documentary series called We Need to Talk About Cosby.
0:17.3	That's now on Showtime.
0:18.9	The final episode is this Sunday.
0:21.2	The series is about Cosby's importance in American culture,
0:24.8	and the special place he held in Black culture is a comic, sitcom, creator, and star
0:29.8	educator and philanthropist, and how through much of his career he was also a serial rapist.
0:36.0	About 60 women have come forward, and there are still more women who are reluctant to come forward.
0:42.2	The series examines Cosby as America's dad, his secret life of drugging and assaulting women,
0:48.5	and how the two timelines coincide.
0:53.2	When you look at the number of stories of women who come forward saying
0:57.0	Bill Cosby assaulted or raped them during his time, and then you look at the number of accolades he got,
1:03.0	you see they skyrocketed together.
1:05.9	Around the same time he released his book, Fatherhood, and Hollywood was crowning him with yet another
1:10.9	Emmy and two Golden Globes.
1:12.8	Bill Cosby.
1:14.0	The Cosby Show.
1:15.2	He was guest hosting his night show.
1:17.4	My next guest is a very talented actor.
1:21.1	And according to many, abusing his power behind the scenes.
	...

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