Bill Cosby released a statement in response to W. Kamau Bell’s Showtime docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22. The four-part, four-hour-long docuseries tackles sexual-assault allegations made by over 60 women spanning over six decades. “Mr. Cosby vehemently denies all allegations waged against him,†Andrew Wyatt, a representative for Cosby, said in a statement published in Rolling Stone. Cosby has maintained his innocence since Andrea Costand’s allegations in 2004. Cosby’s PR rep called Bell a “PR hack†and said the recent film showcased how Cosby “continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths.â€
Cosby was convicted of sexual assault in 2018 in what was widely regarded as a massive win for the Me Too movement. He was sent to prison for more than two years before being released on appeal by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in June 2021. “Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work because of race and gender within the expanses of the entertainment industries,†Wyatt said.
The docuseries explores the allegations that Cosby perpetuated patterns of drugging then assailing numerous women from the 1960s to early 2000s. Bell includes footage and audio of Cosby joking about drugging women throughout his earlier career to contrast the comedian and actor’s legacy as a pioneering Black comedian and “America’s Dad.†The documentary also includes multiple firsthand accounts of Cosby’s survivors, as well as those who witnessed his allegedly threatening and controlling behavior.
After he was sentenced in September 2018, Cosby accused the judge of “prejudice†and called the proceedings “the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States.†We Need to Talk About Cosby will premiere on Showtime on January 30.
If you are in crisis, please call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE for free, anonymous support and resources.