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Former NBC Employee Claims He Paid Off Women For Bill Cosby
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 23, 2014
Modified Nov 23, 2014
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 23, 2014
Modified Nov 23, 2014
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A former NBC employee claims that Bill Cosby enlisted him to pay off women, and he acted as lookout for the comedian during many backstage trysts. Longtime NBC employee Frank Scotti, who worked as facilities manager at the Brooklyn studio where The Cosby Show was made, told the Daily News that he gave payouts to at least eight women on Cosby's behalf.
"I was suspicious that something was going on," said Scotti. "I suspected that he was having sex with them because the other person he was sending money to [Shawn Thompson] he was definitely having sex with." Scotti says Thompson, whose daughter Autumn Jackson claims Cosby is her dad, received more than $100,000 from Cosby alone. "Why else would he be sending money?" Scotti asked. "He was sending these women $2,000 a month. What else could I think?"
Then there was the matter of the trysts:
When Cosby invited young models into his Brooklyn dressing room, the megastar’s pal stood watch outside the door. When the married Cosby sought a Queens apartment for another pretty face, Scotti arranged the deal.
"I did a lot of crazy things for him," added Scotti, who showed the News money order receipts of the payouts. "He was covering himself by having my name on it. It was a coverup. I realized it later." Scotti says he ultimately parted ways with Cosby because he was "bothered" by these arrangements.
As of today, 12 women have publicly accused Cosby of assaulting them; nine more women have done so anonymously. The Washington Post talked to five women on the record in a sprawling article that goes into the nitty gritty of the alleged rapes and unwanted sexual encounters. They write:
The allegations are strung together by perceptible patterns that appear and reappear with remarkable consistency: mostly young, white women without family nearby; drugs offered as palliatives; resistance and pursuit; accusers worrying that no one would believe them; lifelong trauma. There is also a pattern of intense response by Cosby’s team of attorneys and publicists, who have used the media and the courts to attack the credibility of his accusers.
The Daily News also talked to former Playboy bunny Sarita Butterfield, who claims Cosby tried to kiss her and touch her breasts during an unwanted Christmas Eve encounter at his home (with his wife and kids there). The Times interviewed longtime fans trying to reconcile their love for Cliff Huxtable with the overwhelming public revulsion over the alleged assaults.
And then there's this tidbit, via the News, about Cosby's bizarre backstage habits at late night TV shows, as revealed by a Letterman staffer:
“He’d include as a request, before he arrived, that the young girls, interns and assistants, all had to gather around in the green room backstage and sit down and watch him eat curry,” our stunned source explains. “No one would say anything, and he would sit silently eating and make us watch and want us to watch.”
While everyone was disturbed by this, they were asked by producers to do it because "that’s what he (Cosby) wanted."
Tagged
bill cosby
nbc
sexual assault
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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