The Bill Cosby saga continued over the weekend when the New York Times uncovered additional deposition transcripts in which the comedian presented himself as an "unapologetic, cavalier playboy, someone who used a combination of fame, apparent concern and powerful sedatives in a calculated pursuit of young women." Since Barbara Bowman's November 2014 op-ed in the Washington Post alleging that Cosby raped her in 1985 when she was still a minor, 36 women have come forward publicly accusing him of sexual assault. (Here is a comprehensive timeline of the scandal.)
Given that Cosby is one of the most influential black comedians of all time, it was inevitable that members of the hip hop community would feel compelled to weigh in on the matter. There have been two waves of reactions -- the first since Cosby's admission of guilt surfaced earlier this month, and the second during the last six weeks of 2014 when the allegations had just surfaced.
Joey Bada$$ is the latest rapper to publicly state his opinion on the Cosby scandal, as he tarted off his Monday morning with a passionate 15-tweet rant. "I'm always against a rapist," he wrote, "but it's just like yall EAT UP anything the media feeds yall."
Though his opening salvo "I don't fuck with the Bill Cosby slander" suggests an impassioned defense of the comedian, the rant evolved into more of a critique of how people consume media without questioning it than a critique of Cosby himself. "Y'all know media is all propaganda and distractions anyway..." Bada$$ wrote. "The media rapes, brainwash, kill and humiliate more people than anyone on this planet bruh."
Read the whole rant below.
Chuck D
Soon after the AP published Cosby's 2005 testimony that he knowingly gave women Quaaludes before sex, Chuck D took to Twitter to wonder if the backlash against the disgraced comedian had become too extreme.
"No way Im defending Cosby," wrote the Public Enemy frontman. "But this wiping history out wit a swoop is akin to Nazi book burning. Context is everything. Phil Spector still plays."
An activist for marginalized communities as much as a rapper, Chuck worried that the "character assassination" of Cosby meant the undoing of everything he had ever done as a black pioneer.
We are living in a wild bizarre time. Character assassination very real DrCosby & ConFed flag down in same week.Status is currency to masses
They're taking his name & statues down but is every situation giving his money back to him since its dirty money? #BillCosby
I'm saying ppl don't even recall Cosby in pajamas Cigar w Hef at Playboy Mansion 70s parties. Wtf ? Usa folk believed in Huxtable character.
I wasn't defending anything but I ain't naive either nor was I a kid in the 80s swept totally by a TV show. I'd already watched Cosby in 60s
I dont get into what ppl should or not do.What they post on their avatar etc. There's a lotta opinions swirling that aint gonna make u happy
Question do some of yall start stop listening to Marvin Gaye records because of drug addiction? Attempted murder? Wife Abuse? Pedophilia?
No way Im defending Cosby.But this wiping history out wit a swoop is akin to Nazi book burning.Context is everything.PhilSpector still plays
Damon Dash
During a December 2014 interview with Kenyatta, the self-proclaimed “Barber Walters Of Hip Hop," Damon Dash shared some insightful comments on the then-allegations.
"I always thought what he represented was positive because The Cosby Show showed that the American Dream was attainable, not only for white people but for black people," Dash said. "That was a good thing. And maybe that's what we needed 20 or 30 years ago."
Dash said the allegations shouldn't be dismissed on account of them having been kept under wraps for so long. "People look the other way when someone is generating income until he's not generating income for them anymore," he said.
He also said he considered Cosby's lack of a mustache in old age to be a red flag.
Cee Lo Green
Cee Lo Green expressed a sentiment of skepticism that others echoed early in the scandal when he said he was reluctant to condemn Cosby without first getting all the facts.
"He hadn't said anything, which is also to some an admission of guilt," Green said. "It doesn't seem fair any way you slice it."
He elaborated: “No, no, no, I’m saying that can be the perception. "And it is the perception of many simply because he hadn’t made a formal statement defending himself. But you can’t defend yourself in that capacity. You just have to let facts be facts and so on and so forth. The facts have to speak the loudest. With that being said, none of it seems fair. And of course to any victim in that situation, it’s highly unfair. Extremely unfair. It’s not for me to really judge it. I definitely can’t judge it but it’s just unfortunate because he’s so beloved to so many people.”
Innocence until proven guilty is indeed a cornerstone of our democracy, one that Cee Lo surely values given his own legal troubles.
"It's just unfortunate," he said, "because he's so beloved to so many people."
Peter Rosenberg
Kicking it with his hombre Ebro in the Hot 97 studios one December morning, Peter Rosenberg shared his hypothesis that the Cosby allegations may be a part of a broad conspiracy to bring down black men who make it to the top.
"Let me be honest with you," he said. "I think there's a chance the Bill Cosby story is true. And if it is true, I will be disgusted and upset as everyon upset will be. But just for a second... has everyone noticed that every black man that gets to the highest level of mainstream appeal gets brought down."
He lists historical precedents: Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan ("those big suits"), Tiger Woods (with his "pristine picture of white wife"), Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, and finally the dubious inclusion of Denzel Washington. Ebro also adds OJ to the list and counters Rosenberg's theory with the case of Will Smith, who's career is doing well enough.
Best known for their collaborations with Rick Ross and Maybach Music, production trio J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League found themselves in the internet doghouse after they sent out and subsequently deleted a slew of ill-advised tweets last November.
They kicked off the fiasco by asserting their belief that Cosby should "get a pass" because he's one "1 of [the] top ten black people in earth's history," then wrote that Cosby victim and former supermodel Janice Dickinson "isn't even top 10 in any category." When followers became upset with the tweets, they took it up a notch, writing, "most of these people replying need to be raped by Cosby."
Yikes. Unclear who exactly was manning the account, not surprised if the mystery is still unsolved.
They deleted the tweets and then offered an apology for their comments: "We apologize for the distasteful tweets that where recently sent from our account. We are looking into this matter now."
Scope the infamous tweets below.
A week after the Washington Post ran the op-ed that opened the floodgates, Snoop Dogg made light of the situation on Instagram, posting a picture of Cosby smoking a cigar in the studio accompanied by the words “Webbie – ‘Gimme That’ feat. Bill Cosby" -- a reference to Webbie's rapey lyrics:
“You know you want it / Girl don't act like you don't want it / Girl I want it just as bad as you do / And look see I can tell from this lil vibe.”