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Video: Hannibal Buress Calls Bill Cosby A Rapist
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 21, 2014
Modified Oct 21, 2014
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Bill Cosby is a revered and towering figure in comedy and TV, but young comedian Hannibal Buress took him to task for his views on African-American culture, along with the many accusations that Cosby sexually assaulted women—"You raped women, Bill Cosby," Buress said from the stage.
During a set last week at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, Buress talked about Cosby, a Philadelphia native, and how there was a lawsuit from 13 women accusing the comic elder statesman of sexual assault. Buress told his audience:
Thirteen? And it’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the fucking smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. Pull your pants up, black people. I was on TV in the ’80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom. Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby. So, brings you down a couple notches. I don’t curse on stage. Well, yeah, you’re a rapist, so, I’ll take you sayin’ lots of motherfuckers on Bill Cosby: Himself if you weren’t a rapist. …I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch Cosby Show reruns. …I’ve done this bit on stage, and people don’t believe. People think I’m making it up. …That shit is upsetting. If you didn’t know about it, trust me. You leave here and Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny. That shit has more results than Hannibal Buress.
In 2006, Philadelphia Magazine published an article, "Dr. Huxtable, Mr. Hyde", which includes a disturbing story from Beth Ferrier, a former lover of Cosby's from the mid-1980s. She met up with him after their affair in Denver: "He said, 'Here’s your favorite coffee, something I made, to relax you.' She drank it and soon began to feel woozy. Several hours later, she woke up in the backseat of her car, alone. She didn’t know what had happened. Her clothes were a mess, her bra undone. Security guards came and said Cosby told them to get her home. She confronted him at his hotel. 'You just had too much to drink,' he told her."
Update: Buress was on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show today, and Stern said the remarks about Cosby were "right on." Buress said, "It's just information that's out there," adding that it was the first time any bit of his went viral. "It was unexpected," Buress explained, noting that it's different to see his words printed, with the "energy" taken out and non-fans reading it. "I said it and I gotta stand on it… but it's a different thing."
Buress also joked, "Nobody's putting out the bit I do about taking a shit on an airplane… Nobody cares about my edgy TSA material."
Tagged
bill cosby
hannibal buress
sexual assault accusation
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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