Cosby: It was mutual
 

ENTERTAINER Bill Cosby admits to having "consensual" sexual contact with a Pickering woman who claims the TV star drugged and molested her, according to ABC News.

Here's the rest of the story: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Toront...12864-sun.html

Do you think this diminishes the message that he's giving about our accountablility in raising our children?

Has he learned from his 'mistakes' - this is his second public display of his philanderin' ways?

What I want to know is...since it was only fondling...does this make it ok with his wife?

I initially heard this story this morning from FloAnthony, a gossip columnists on one of the local radio stations here in DC, and she suggested while Cosby is coming clean about this lil indiscretion he needs to come clean 'bout his marriage... I took that to mean that Camille might have given him the boot or they are married in name only.

A better article on blackweb: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site....wnews/cosby201

with a picture of his accuser (she looks young enough to be his daughter :confused:

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/resource.aspx?id=15452

I really don't buy into the 'white media' trying to crucify Bill. He's doing it to himself.

To answer my own initial question, I think it's hard to take advice/criticism from someone whose own house STILL isn't in order

OOOOOOOOOOH, I heard that on HUR this morning too!! I was like :eek: D'OH!!

I was trying to make the point on another board that I have a hard time listening to Bill now b/c his own house is shaky, not that I took his word as gospel or anything...that is why I dont listen to anyone speak of a 'moral code'. If you are living 'morally', then others will see it. If you have to shout it out, then you are probably trying to deflect some attention from yourself b/c YOU are not so moral...jmo...

I agree with most of what you say here..however..is anyone's house really in order? Meaning is there anyone that hasn't made mistakes or still makes them? I guess this has really hurt his credibility in the eyes of many..but it doesn't change the validity of the message he was delivering. The message and the messenger are two different things..

If he truly sexually assaulted her, then his credibilty is shot with me.

However, if it is proven the whatever occured between them was consensual I have no problems with Cos: he's not my husband and it is not uncommon for the wives of rich men to allow them to be, errr, sexually free as long as the wives can keep dipping into the family coeffers. That may have been what Flo Anthony was referring to. If that is Bill and Camille's choice, so be it.

I still think what he said about the Black community needed to be said and I will continue believe that every dollar he has contributed is much needed by Black schools- and I am sure they await his next dollar.

I pray, the allegations are false, and I pray what I mentioned before is not the state of Bill and Camille's marriage, but even if the allegations are true and the marriage is farce for "business" purposes he has still done great things for the Black community and the education of Black youth. Additionally, he has restarted a very necessary dialogue in our community.

Well said. I really enjoyed watching him on Dr. Phil last week. I also agree with what he says about the African American race. However, I do believe that you should lead by example. So let's hope this stuff is false.

Must agree with your last point, Soror. Dr. Cosby did restart a dialogue that should have never fallen off. For that, he gets points from me.
Now I don't really care who he dropped hammer on. That is a matter between him and Mrs. Cosby. It does become public information, however, but that doesn't mean that I have to pass judgment on it.

Any excuse
 

I agree with most of yall, also...

But, I think Bill may have been set up. Don't get me wrong.

I am not saying somebody hypnotized Bill and made him touch that women against his will. He put himself in this position. However, it is possible that Cosby's views and statements may have motivated others to go after him. When I speak of others, I mean those who don't like it when we hear what we need to hear. This country has shown us time and time again that anybody who speaks out about what we (blacks) need to do to better ourselves (whether it hurts to hear it or not) will always be a target. Anything to hide the truth. Bill can solicit, grab, rub, and do everything else. That doesn't mean what he said wasn't the truth. Yes, it was wrong and I am sure he will pay for it like Kobe, Micheal, etc. The only problem is that some people will look for any excuse (GREEN LIGHT) they can find to continue to be apathetic.

Cosby's sexual (consensual or not) contact has nothing to do with why many black teenagers are dropping out of school, why many black parents are bringing children into this world but not raising (teaching) them, and why many black people continue to spend their money, time, and efforts toward things that neither benefit them (their family) nor us as a people. I know Cosby didn't say all that, I threw some of that end myself.:rolleyes:

This occurence shouldn't discredit or lessen the validity of his statements. If it's true, it's true, molestation or not. I do agree that one should lead by example, but I think the three areas that I mentioned earlier are more influential to African Americans than Bill Cosby getting his freak on.

I was never going to nominate him for HUSBAND OF THE YEAR anyway.

But he's the undisputed champion of TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!:D

my $.02

Re: Any excuse
 

We may think Cosby disobeying his marriage vows means nothing, but it does. The lack of respect for marriage can be a reflection about the family unit and how people view it. He talks about men abusing women but repeatedly cheating on your wife is a form of abuse-lack of respect for relationships, kids out of wedlock and living in single parent homes, STD's, and so on.

Unfortunately, AA's like to discredit the emotional effects of our actions when everything plays a part in the whole.

Soror, yes you can pass judgement. Just pretend like it's Big Geigh Al. :D :o

Like I said on the Ave. I knew there was something to it. Once the accusations surfaced, he canceled shows. If he did not have any contact with this person, he would not have had to gone to such lengths. The shows would have gone on.

IMO, it has nothing to do with what he has said. It's just that his credibility is minimized. He may eventually fade into oblivion like Jesse Jackson and many other notables and not so notables.

Re: Re: Any excuse
 

MY POINT EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never placed Cosby on such a pedestal that this scandal has me losing sleep or even thinking about it. I guess once Jesse Jackson did his thing and it was exposed as well as learning about MLK's own infidelity or sexual indiscretions, I tend not to get bent out of shape in terms of "What is we gonna do now?"

Now don't get it twisted, I do not agree with him cheating on his wife. But that is something Bill Cosby will have to answer to God, his wife, and children for, not little old me.

I still think that his message about the breakdown of the Black family and community was necessary and thankful he said it. However, infidelity and adultery (HIS INCLUDED) hurt the family as well, Black or White.

Re: Re: Any excuse
 

I disagree with your example - all of a sudden an alleged situation is equivalent to ALL the ills wrong with our society? I'm not excusing infidelity but again that is a private matter. The difference between Mr. Cosby and Jesse Jackson is the REVEREND prefix. If you are going to be held up as a leader for God then yes you need to be held to a higher standard - apples and oranges.

Lets keep this all in perspective - we DON't know what (if any) arrangement Mr. and Mrs. Cosby have - but he raised his kids in a two parent home and as far as I recall all of his kids went to college. This would include PTA meetings, and other educational responsibilities & involvement with his own children. Both parents are college educated and in addition give of their time, money & resources to provide educational opportunites for other children.

On Educational issues - Mr. Cosby is still alright with me.

Re: Re: Re: Any excuse
 

Of course his kids went to college, he's BILL COSBY! He gives millions to colleges you betta believe he'll make his kids go to college. As far as the affair, that's between him and his maker where only his maker can forgive his sin and save his soul.

Re: Re: Re: Any excuse
 

I didn't say his actions caused the ills of our society or compare him to Jesse Jackson. My point was don't think extramarital affairs (Cosby or whomever) are immaterial and have no effect on the family unit. How do these actions affect the views that a son may have toward commitments and respect for women or a daughter's trust in men? Yeah Cosby and his wife are both college educated and their kids were raised in a two-parent home, but this and similar households don't make life fine and dandy. That's what I was alluding to.

We can call it a private matter, but as with any public figure your business is prone to scrutiny. We can have a ball talking about someone's relationship, weave or outfit, but let's not discuss Cosby's indiscretions, it's private. The only thing alleged in this case is her being drugged since he admitted he touched her inappropriately.

Cosby should be praised for his educational endowments; he's doing what the alumni won't do. But I'm not questioning his credibility as far as giving back or saying he's going to hell for his actions. Whether it's Cosby, Jesse, R Kelly or a crack head preaching "do as I say not as I do", your credibility to your audience will be judged and your effectiveness can be hindered.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Any excuse
 

my thoughts exactly...

To the two previous posters and those sharing in their sentiments:

Would your public condemnation (not the underlying opinion) of Mr. Cosby cease if you found out such public condemnation would cause him to cease to support the Black community and Black schools in the ways that he has?

I am not saying you should stop publicly condemning him or not (I am not disclosing my opinion in anyway), I am simply curious as to what you see as more important? I sincerely, want to know would you bite your tongue in order to ensure that he continue to financially and publicly support our schools if he told you public condemnation would cause him to stop? Do you feel that your public condemnation is more important than his support of schools? Is that "selling out"- is it sacrificing the trivial for the life-changing?

Just curious.

BILL COSBY HAS NOT SAID THE THINGS I REFERENCE IN THIS POST- I AM SIMPLY ASKING A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION!

Lets keep in mind that there is not quote made by Cosby's stating he had a relationship with this woman. I always raise an eyebrow when I hear "sources say."

Hypothetically, Cosby's says, "Since you guys are publicly bashing my private life I'm going to stop giving back to the community". You are wondering if I should say, "oh wait Cosby, your giving is much too important, I'll keep my opinion of your private business to myself"?

Umm, nope. If he did something like this, it would prove his intentions weren't genuine to begin with. I would think he'd want to follow his own advice by taking the constructive criticism and improving himself and those within his community.

Why is it he can air our dirty laundry but no one can air his?

For the record, I'm not disputing any comments he made about our community.

Why does it matter what his intentions are? His money spends the same regardless. A child still gets an education regardless. Law school is expensive, hayle- if he wants to give me money it wouldn't really matter to me who he was sexing.

Why is a child's education less important than airing dirty laundry?

People give money for two reasons-out of the goodness of their heart or for a tax benefit. If his intentions aren't morally motivated, he's going to do it regardless of some random person's opinion because it's less money he has to give Uncle Sam.

It's not less important and one doesn't have to be chosen over the other considering this is all hypothetical. Both actions can coexist. lol. He can still give all the while with his name on any media when he does wrong.

My purpose in posing the question was to understand whether or not the message he's trying to deliver to us is lessened by his actions in his personal life. From the very beginning, I never completely agreed with the message nor the method it was delivered (that's another discussion covered in another thread).

I believe that one of the purposes of his message was to put us on notice that we aren't raising our children right. I have to question his morals if he's not living by the same creed that he's preaching publicly to the masses. IMHO it's hypocritical.

I think that his philathropic deeds are totally separate from the scathing message he delivered. We only link the philanthropy to the message to justify why he should be able to publicly chastize us.

If Cosby was to decide that because of the public airing of his dirty laundry he no longer wanted to contribute to the education of youth, then I'd say his motives were not motivated in the true sense of providing an education for someone less fortunate. It would all be good PR; however, I do believe that his motives for funding scholarships are truly altruistic and not to promote his image. He's been doing it for years prior to his scathing message.

It's unfortunate what has come to light about Bill Cosby, along with Jesse Jackson -I was at a youth forum and presented several books from the library on African American Leaders and no one chose Jesse Jackson I find that to be very interesting. Our youth are looking to those in leadership to be a moral example. I am saddened by Mr. Cosby's conduct, but as my Mom would say -he's just a man and human- we all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God!