Netflix Inc. (NFLX) is sticking with plans to release a Bill Cosby special, according to people with knowledge of the situation, following new rape allegations against the comedian and actor.
Netflix executives have debated how to proceed with “Bill Cosby 77,” a stand-up performance by the 77-year-old comedian, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a programming decision. The video is scheduled to go live Nov. 28 on Netflix, the world’s largest subscription streaming service, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. An NBC sitcom with Cosby is still in development, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Cosby, who broke racial barriers with TV’s “I Spy” in the 1960s and “The Bill Cosby Show” in the 1980s, has canceled appearances since allegations resurfaced that he drugged and raped women more than a decade ago. The latest to come forward is Hollywood publicist Joan Tarshis, who wrote on Nov. 16 about an alleged 1969 incident.
Comedian Hannibal Buress last month called Cosby a rapist onstage, and Barbara Bowman published a Washington Post op-ed last week reiterating past accusations Cosby raped her when she was a 17-year-old aspiring actress.
“Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced,” his lawyer, John P. Schmitt, said in a Nov. 16 statement. “The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment.”
A new statement was posted yesterday to clarify that the lawyer’s comments didn’t refer to another Cosby accuser, Andrea Constand, whose 2005 civil lawsuit against Cosby was settled. She claimed to have located at least 10 other alleged victims of sexual assault by Cosby, who has never faced criminal charges. In a court filing at the time, Constand named one other witness to prior alleged sexual assaults, and nine so-called Jane Does, whose names were confidential.
New Statement
“The statement released by Mr. Cosby’s attorney over the weekend was not intended to refer in any way to Andrea Constand,” said the joint statement, from Cosby and Constand’s lawyers. “As previously reported, differences between Mr. Cosby and Ms. Constand were resolved to the mutual satisfaction of Mr. Cosby and Ms. Constand years ago. Neither Mr. Cosby nor Ms. Constand intends to comment further on the matter.”
David Brokaw, a spokesman for Cosby, declined further comment to Bloomberg News.
Cosby declined to comment when asked about the allegations in an interview with National Public Radio that aired on Nov. 15. He canceled a guest appearance on CBS Corp. (CBS)’s “Late Show with David Letterman,” and a guest spot on “The Queen Latifah Show” was postponed at the comedian’s request, NBC News reported.
NBC Sitcom
Tarshis, a publicist and journalist, went public on Nov. 16, offering her account in a post on the entertainment blog Hollywood Elsewhere. In 1969, Tarshis alleged, Cosby befriended and then drugged and raped her.
Subscribers to Los Gatos, California-based Netflix are accustomed to controversial topics, a factor in the company’s deliberations about how to handle the Cosby allegations, said one of the people. Executives are monitoring public reaction, the person said.
NBC has made no change to its plans to develop a sitcom starring Cosby, said the person with knowledge of the situation. The show still lacks a script, the person said. Plans for the NBC show were reported by Bloomberg and others in January.
(Published by Bloomblerg – November 18, 2014)