On June 5, Bill Cosby is set to stand trial for sexual assault, a crime he was charged with in Pennsylvania in December 2015. Over the years, 51 different women have accused Bill Cosby of rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, and other sex-related crimes. And while some have argued the accusations are just another attempt to keep a well-accomplished and once well-respected brotha down, for others, the admiration they once had for the comedian and television pioneer is all but gone.
Cosby’s youngest child, daughter Evin Cosby, is making a ninth-hour plea to change that, writing an extensive open letter in The Hollywood Reporter about the way the media’s haste to believe so-called untrue allegations against her father have affected not just her dad, but her entire family, namely her and her young children.
“I have two amazing children who love their grandfather,” she wrote. “I already work hard as a single mother, with no full-time help, and with a career in fashion design, I am lucky that I have supportive friends that I call family because my children and I need that support. The public persecution of my dad, my kids’ grandfather, and the cruelty of the media and those who speak out branding my father a “rapist” without ever knowing the truth and who shame our family and our friends for defending my dad, makes all of this so much worse for my family and my children. When people are so quick to cast hate and make accusations of horrific violence against my dad, they are callous in their carelessness about the harm they are causing to others.
“I thought when my brother, Ennis, was murdered, that was the worst nightmare of all time. It’s so hurtful to this day. I try to block out the day he was killed, but that pain has only worsened in these last years. For some reason, my family’s pain has been a trigger for people to seize upon us harder.
“On the same day that Ennis was murdered, a woman came out claiming that my father had a “love child.” She was arrested for extortion. She was not my father’s daughter.
“On the day I gave birth to my son, another woman came out, but that case was dismissed too — the district attorney investigated her claims also and didn’t press charges.”
After going on to explain how the stories of accusers don’t match up and that her father has been unable to defend himself because “the media is only interested in the stories of the women,” Evin went on to call her father somewhat of an advocate for women’s rights.
“My dad broke barriers and raised the conscious of America on important topics, especially for the advancement of women,” she continued. “On The Cosby Show he only depicted women as smart and accomplished. On TheCosby Show and on A Different World he took on then-taboo subjects like menstrual cycles and rape, and even did a show on AIDS before anyone else would bring it up.
“I am his fourth daughter. He raised me to go to college, start my own business, and be my own woman. He is helping me raise my children and teach them family values. I know that my father loves me, loves my sisters and my mother. He loves and respects women. He is not abusive, violent or a rapist. Sure, like many celebrities tempted by opportunity, he had his affairs, but that was between him and my mother. They have worked through it and moved on, and I am glad they did for them and for our family.
“The harsh and hurtful accusations of things that supposedly happened 40 or 50 years ago, before I was born, in another lifetime, and that have been carelessly repeated as truth without allowing my dad to defend himself and without requiring proof, has punished not just my dad but every one of us. They have punished the talented people who were still earning money and feeding their families from my dad’s shows and work. I am pleased that finally we are seeing the whole picture and seeing cases and claims dismissed from court. I just hope that those who pre-judged my dad are now willing to admit that they were wrong.”
We shall see. What do you say?
Photo: Getty
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