(upbeat soul music)
- [Narrator] This is the fascinating story of the rise,
fall, and subsequent acquittal
of America's former favorite dad.
Hoisted into a pedestal as the face
and voice of the black community,
Bill, one of America's most enduring comics,
was on a trajectory like no other.
♪ Your woman trying to do her best ♪
- They all melted!
- [Narrator] "The Cosby Show," "Fat Albert, "I Spy,"
sold-out standup shows, Cosby had everything in the palm
of his hands until allegations of sexual assault came back
to haunt him and hold him down.
♪ You feel there's something wrong ♪
♪ 'Cause the actions you can't defend ♪
♪ Can't defend
♪ But you afraid to talk about it ♪
(TV static hisses)
- [Narrator] With the Me Too movement in full swing,
60 women have accused Cosby of rape,
drug-facilitated sexual assault,
and other sexual misconduct practices dating
as far back as the '60s.
Newly released from a Pennsylvania prison cell,
follow the journey of the accused and accusers
in their fight to be heard for justice and a fair trial
in the most high profile court case in recent memory.
- Wap!
♪ But I don't think that makes it go ♪
- Thank you. Left face.
♪ It makes you wanna go mm, mm, mm, mm ♪
(metal doors clang) ♪ It makes you wanna go
(dark brooding music) ♪ Mm, mm, mm
(metal doors clang) ♪ It makes you wanna, mm, mm
♪ That thing make you wanna go
(soft ethereal music)
William Henry Cosby, Jr. grew up in Philadelphia,
born to Anna Pearl, a maid, and William Henry Cosby Sr.,
a mess steward serving in the US Navy.
Bill was the oldest of four sons,
raised among the projects of Philadelphia.
Conditions or far from ideal for a kid with lofty ambitions,
ambitions to reach the heights
of the idols he'd hear on the radio.
- She's known as Jackie Moms Maybley,
but we all call her Mom.
So what do you say, Mom? Take it away.
(bright upbeat music)
(Jackie hums and scats)
- That's enough blues. That's enough.
I'm so tired.
Feels like I have the hardest luck in the world.
I done lost my job again.
- [Narrator] His father became an alcoholic,
which had an effect on the financial prosperity of a family.
(slow dramatic music)
- [Announcer] Working diligently in their laboratories,
backed by tireless assistants,
are the greatest minds in medical science.
At the famed Rockefeller Institute in New York City,
an eminent clinical investigator, Dr. Homer F. Swift,
endeavors to the riddle of rheumatic fever,
responsible for the crippling of the young.
- [Narrator] By the age of eight,
Cosby suffered a great loss when his brother James,
the second eldest, died from rheumatic fever in 1947.
(slow poignant music)
With money very tight for his family,
Cosby started shining shoes and worked
at a supermarket during his middle school years.
Despite their hardships,
Cosby's mother stressed the value of education and learning,
often reading books to build on his brothers
from literary works by Mark Twain
to teaching the morality of the Bible.
A gifted storyteller himself,
Cosby learned early in life that humor could be used
to make friends and ultimately get what he wanted.
Cosby excelled at making things up.
As one of his teachers once noted,
"William should become either a lawyer
or an actor because he lies so well."
He was the class president at school,
but faculty members noted his propensity
for joking around instead of studying.
By his own description, he was the class clown,
a bright but unmotivated student.
A teacher once told him that he should put all
of his performing talents into something more productive,
like a school play rather than in the classroom.
(soft bright jazzy music)
Cosby began listening to a wide range of programs,
then begin to imitate comedians like Jerry Lewis,
Jack Benny and Sid Caesar.
(soft upbeat music)
Having scored highly in an IQ test,
Cosby was enrolled in a school for gifted students.
More interested in sports than academia,
he struggled to adapt and failed 10th grade twice.
Feel like it better for one of them big people.
Make it pretty and one of them phonics stuff,
all that stuff.
And honey, make me look like Lena Horn
if you (muffled speaking) like that.
That's better, thank you.
Come on, Luther. Knock me out, Luther.
(bright upbeat music) (tense brooding music)
(explosion booms)
- [Narrator] When he was just 16,
Bill enlisted in the Navy and worked
as a physical therapist, aiding the recovery
of horrifically wounded Korean War victims.
The experience exposed what was now evident to him.
Bill immediately realized the benefits of an education
and ruled his decision to drop out.
He obtained his high school equivalency diploma
while still enrolled in military service.
Shortly after joining, Cosby came home
and attended Temple University
where he studied physical education through a scholarship.
(film reel clicks)
- On your marks.
- [Narrator] Having excelled in the Navy's track program,
Bill pursued sports, excelling in track running
and as a full back
on the university's American football team.
However, away from the fields of play,
he continued to hone his talent for comedy,
working during the nights as bartender at the Cellar,
a club in Philadelphia.
Bill became fully aware of his ability
to make people bowl over with laughter.
Tips increased with the sharpening of his talent
as he began to dream of a life in the spotlights.
From the club in Philly, he ventured on to the Big Apple,
searching for a career in comedy.
(upbeat music)
He was an overnight success after appearing
at the Gaslight Cafe at the beginning of 1961.
In the summer of '63, Cosby received national exposure
on NBC's "The Tonight Show."
This led to a recording contract
with Warner Brothers Records,
where he related a series of comedy albums.
- How you gonna do it?
(audience laughs)
I'm gonna make it rain for a thousand days
and drown 'em right out.
Right.
(audience laughs)
Listen, do this. You'll save water.
Let it rain for 40 days and 40 nights
and wait for the sewers to back up.
(audience laughs)
Right.
(audience laughs and applauds)
- [Narrator] There was growing freedom throughout the 60s.
Comics were able to explore controversial
and sometimes risque material.
Cosby was criticized about the absence of race
as a topic within his routines.
He preferred to tell humorous relocation of his childhood,
defending his choice by saying,
"A white person listens to my act, and he laughs,
and he thinks, 'Yeah, that's the way I see it, too.
We both see things the same way.
That must mean that we are alike, right?'
So I figure this way, I'm doing as much
for good race relations as the next guy."
Cosby met his wife, Camille Hanks,
a student at the University of Maryland,
while he was performing standup in Washington, DC
in the early 1960s.
They exchange vows on January 25th, 1964.
- Oh, I feel fine. I could've been doing something else.
- Do I get my fare home? That's what I wanna know.
Depends on how I do it, right?
- Well, if you- - Excuse me,
the spy is here, Bill Cosby.
- Bill Cosby is here, the spy.
- I got a story here.
- You mumble when you tell stories.
He's a mumbler. - I gotta tell my story.
- Tell your story. - About the-
- The wife spot. - The worst storyteller
I've ever heard. - Is this gonna take long?
- My heavens, I tell ya.
- [Bill] No, I tell a great story.
- Yeah, I hear ya.
- [Narrator] In 1965, Cosby was cast alongside Robert Culp
in the "I Spy" espionage adventure series on NBC.
(upbeat espionage music)
- [Announcer] Bill Cosby,
all kinds of people sitting at tables,
dancing and having a wonderful time.
Nancy was a very good hostess and said hello to everybody,
like Robert Culp, who came with his friend, Bill Cosby.
They have a television program together.
- "I Spy" broke racial barriers
and became the first weekly dramatic television series
to feature an African-American in a starring role.
Initially, NBC executives were concerned
that some affiliates might be unwilling to carry the series.
However, as the 1965 season was nearing broadcast,
only four stations in Georgia, Florida,
and Alabama declined to feature the show.
The rest of the country became captivated
with the show's exotic locales
and the authentic chemistry of the biracial stars,
visible through receiving one of the highest ratings
on the television calendar.
- [Announcer] Debbie Reynolds chatting with comic Bill Cosby
as one of the founders of The Thalians.
- [Narrator] Cosby's integration
into the television industry paved the way
for African-American performers.
His character in the TV show
was not a subordinate but an equal.
(upbeat soul rock music)
Bill cemented his place as an actor in Hollywood
by winning three Emmys for his role
of Alexander Scott in "I Spy."
When looking at the period in which the show was airing,
America was still going through a very tumultuous time.
He represented in the era of racial segregation
what a desegregated world might look like.
Throughout the series' three-year run,
Cosby was repeatedly confronted with the question of race.
For him, it was enough that "I Spy" portrayed two men
who worked as equals despite their different races.
However, critics took the show to task
for not having a black character engage the racial issues
that inflamed the country at the time.
Cosby was relieved when the series ended,
enabling him to concentrate on his family
and return to live performing.
Not long after "I Spy" ended, Cosby started his own sitcom.
[Bill] Ooh Lord!
Gonna get some raggits and some rolls and reazinrizins.
(laughs) Everyday.
("Hikky-Burr")
Long as I'm away.
- [Narrator] "The Bill Cosby Show" ran for two seasons
from 1969 to 1971 and featured the comedian
as a gym teacher at a Los Angeles high school.
While only a modest critical success,
the show was a ratings hit,
finishing 11th in its first season.
After "The Bill Cosby Show" left the air,
he would turn to his education,
actively pursuing an advanced degree
in education from the University of Massachusetts.
(upbeat music)
Around the same time,
he appeared on the educational children's series,
"The Electric Company."
- I wanna know why this sign says Honest John
when all them things you're saying ain't true.
- I lie a lot.
- [Narrator] He developed the animated series,
"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,"
which he based on many of his childhood experiences.
- [Man] Hey hey hey! It's Fat Albert!
- [Narrator] Some schools used the program
as a teaching tool, and Cosby himself wrote his thesis on it
in order to obtain his Doctorate in education in 1977,
a seismic shift from the boy who had dropped
out of high school.
(upbeat 70s music)
During the 70s, Cosby contributed
to a slew of successful comedic films,
working alongside other African-American actors,
such as Sidney Poitier
to establish the emerging blaxploitation genre
that tackled the issue of black stereotypes in film.
- Now look, all we got to do is go on inside,
see this cat Little Seymour,
and ask him about our property.
Now, come on.
(door slams open) (footsteps shuffle)
(body thuds)
- You see what I saw? - Yes, I saw what you saw,
and don't be worried about nothing
'cause the dude mess with me, I'm gonna knock him out.
(click echoes)
(crowd cheers) (upbeat parade music)
(muffled speaking)
- All right, listen.
It's time that some people were reminded
that actors are people.
I, Ronald Reagan, do solemnly swear.
- [Man] That I will faithfully execute the office
of president of the United States.
(disco music)
- September 1984 would see Bill's trajectory
to fame take a steep incline
with the debut of "The Cosby Show."
- Obviously, to build up to having a TV show
with your name on it like that,
you're going to have to already have this track record
and a body of work that people are going
to recognize and buy into that brand,
and "The Cosby Show" was just that.
He already had all these other enterprises going into that,
so that was, if you would, the jewel on top of all that,
that all these other steps had been working up to.
Because of his comedy,
he would be on shows like Sesame street.
- Five. Six.
- As a kid growing up in the 80s,
you already knew who he was - Six.
- [Jennifer] before "The Cosby Show" even happened.
- Six, six, six, six, six.
- So he was a safe entity.
Eddie Murphy, for example, dangerous,
saying swear words, crazy.
Bill Cosby was not like that.
Bill Cosby was the face of Pudding Pops.
It was like a treat that you could eat after school.
Bill Cosby had a cartoon.
He was parent approved,
and "The Cosby Show" just took it that one step further.
("The Cosby Show" theme song)
"The Cosby Show" was an absolute cultural phenomenon
and just expanded your worldview without you being told
that you had such a small pallette
that you were working from.
- Tempest? - It's great.
It's a learning experience almost. Well, it is.
To work with somebody so experienced
and a veteran of the business, and he's very funny.
- You can't help but be natural with Bill
'cause he's such a genius at what he does.
I think a lot that I've learned is a lot like timing
and stuff, delivering lines,
and he's fantastic to work with.
- I don't know. I auditioned like every other actress.
I used my own experience as a mother.
I just looked for some truth and a lot of love.
- "Cosby Show" was must see TV.
Like Thursday at swim practice,
we'd be talking about, "Oh my God,
what's gonna be on 'Cosby Show' tonight?
What's gonna happen?" Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh.
Everybody'd be talking about it.
Your teachers would be talking about it. You had to see it.
They were just like as an aspirational.
I wanted to know the Cosby family.
I wanted to be friends with the Cosby family.
I wanted my family to have as much money
as the Cosby family.
- I know people making, the husband makes 50,000.
The wife makes 50,000. They don't live in the projects.
They buy a $300,000 home someplace.
They have both have a car.
These people are living according to whatever,
and you can smell the problems
because of the color of the Huxtables.
And it isn't just the Caucasian critics.
There are African-Americans who have problem looking
at the Huxtables, and they all vary.
Their reasons vary, but the Huxtables were put there
and are there to aid and abet the parent.
It was not their idea to show that we are perfect.
For instance, I didn't need a Doctorate in education.
I went after it because I had something to say.
I want to say that I am a person who feels
that you can take a family, and you can have children,
and they can be almost real, close to real,
and you can develop story
around one particular central theme, make it funny,
and without getting into sexual parts
or have someone sit on a broken glass to get a laugh
that people will laugh at the attitude of the actors.
- You cannot underestimate the importance, though,
of "The Cosby Show" because it really set into motion a lot
of the things that went forward into the 90s.
You have things like the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air."
You have Oprah Winfrey.
I would say, even in some ways, you could say hip hop
becoming mainstream and influential in the way that it does
because before "The Cosby Show," even with MTV,
you had very few African-American artists on MTV.
"The Cosby Show" was coming
into your house every single week,
so it normalized seeing upper-middle-class black faces
on a weekly basis,
so it just made it part of your everyday life.
It made it something that was expected
instead of extraordinary.
So therefore, when these other personalities
and shows came along,
it was something people wanted and demanded.
(upbeat lively music)
- You have to understand that this industry
is run by Anglo-Americans,
and I didn't make a breakthrough.
Someone opened the door and said,
"You, you can come in here," and I got a lot of help.
And so I see myself as that kind of person,
regardless of race, color, or creed,
having all colors working.
When you see my crew, you don't see one.
You see everybody, and that's the fun of it.
- [Man] Bill, what gives you the greatest pleasure?
You're very successful in television,
Make films, commercials, writing, live performance.
Which one's the favorite thing for you to do.
- There's only one.
Whenever I have an idea and I think it's funny,
I have some place to share it, and that's wonderful.
- The Cosbys was very 80s. The mom was a lawyer.
The dad was a doctor.
The clothes, the over everything,
and not just the fashion, but that 80s vibes to it.
And the 90s were just a different moment in time
in terms of you have Bill Clinton coming into office,
you have grunge music.
Just history was changing a little bit,
and I don't know what "The Cosby Show" quite fit into that
in the same sort of way that it works in the 80s.
(rock music)
- [Man] Any regrets in your career?
I had a couple, but I forgot them,
so they must not have been important.
(boom echoes) (tense brooding music)
- [Narrator] January 22nd, 2005.
Having endured sleepless nights, flashbacks and nightmares,
Andrea Constand files a police report
with the Durham Regional Police alleging
that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her
in Montgomery, Pennsylvania in January 2004,
triggering a criminal investigation
by Montgomery County detectives.
- I'd never heard anything against Bill Cosby,
but I'm never surprised.
I just say I'm rarely surprised
when I hear anything about anyone
because when people have that much power
and that much money, there's so much at stake in terms
of money can pretty much cover up anything,
and everybody wants power.
Everybody wants fame. Everybody wants access.
And when you have that much of those things,
it's easy for someone with lesser
of that to just be silenced.
So I wasn't really that surprised.
I was disappointed, I'd say, more than surprised.
- [Narrator] February 10th, 2005.
After hearing Constand's police report filing,
Tamara Green alleges similar abuse
by Cosby dating back to the 70s.
February 17th, 2005.
A week later,
a press release from Montgomery County district attorney,
Bruce Castor, Jr., is made public.
The verdict, Bill Cosby will not be criminally prosecuted,
citing insufficient credible and admissible evidence.
(tense music)
March 2005.
Failing to secure a criminal prosecution,
Constand versus Cosby ends up in a civil trial.
Civil filings revealed depositions from 13 Jane Does,
claiming sexual assault at the hands
of the man America once called its favorite dad.
He acquired drugs to give women for sex.
He agreed to an interview in the "National Inquirer"
in return for blocking an undisclosed allegation
from hitting the press.
He sent payments to multiple women
and kept the affairs secret from his wife.
The four days of depositions
by Andrea Constand's legal team unearthed unsavory practices
testified by Bill himself.
In the buildup to Janice Dickinson's book release,
she appears on the "Howard Stern Show,"
exposing the legal parameters that has muffled her voice.
(Janice laughs)
- [Howard] Did you turn down a Bill Cosby?
- [Janice] Bill Cosby was the only guy I
couldn't write about in the book
because Harper Collins is afraid of lawsuits.
- But what happened? - True.
- [Howard] He got you? So he nailed you?
- [Janice] He was married.
- [Howard] You had sex with Bill Cosby?
- You're so funny. - What are you-
You're saying that the book company
won't allow you to write about certain people?
- [Janice] Too afraid. Too afraid of that one.
Wouldn't touch that one, and I don't wanna get near that
because I don't have the shekels
that you do or that Cosby does.
So I'm afraid something's gonna come out.
- [Howard] I don't know anything about this.
How did he even come out- - The guy's a bad guy.
Let me just say that. He's not a nice guy.
He preys on women that just come out of rehab.
I'll say that.
- [Narrator] Any shine left
on the embattled comedian's character
was rapidly tarnishing.
- It's very difficult
because I do get asked this a lot about artists.
If they say or do something now, does that damage their art
or does that damage what they did before,
something they said before or a movie
or a record that they created in the past?
And I think you have to be very careful
about not taking what we know now and grafting it
into something that happened in the past.
You have to separate to some degree the art from the artist,
and you cannot take away what "The Cosby Show" did.
We wouldn't have as many African-Americans, gay folk,
different looking people, different sounding people,
people from different backgrounds on TV and films,
even in the music industry, without "The Cosby Show."
That is something that you cannot deny,
and that's something that you cannot take away
from Bill Cosby, no matter what.
What you can say is his actions are deplorable
and disgusting, and we need to be very, very careful
and look out what circumstances led
to that being allowed to go on for so long.
But I think in terms of the legacy of "The Cosby Show,"
we need to try to really appreciate those
and have that as something that's important
and something that is really something we should cherish
away from what he did as an individual.
(dark brooding music)
- [Narrator] By June 9th, 2006,
two brave women, Beth Ferrier and Barbara Bowman,
revealed themselves through Philadelphia print media
as two of the 13 unnamed accusers.
(muffled chatter)
November 8th, 2006.
21 months since the inception of the lawsuit,
Constand's civil case abruptly ends
when Cosby settles outside of court for $3 million.
- I don't know if we can make a difference, but today,
we are here together and that is what is important.
And maybe today we won't win, maybe we will,
but there are other battles in the future that we can.
I want every survivor here to know it
is never your fault, no matter what,
and maybe today it feels like another instance
of your voice being ripped from your throat
and your mouth covered, but I hear you.
Someone hears you, and I believe you.
I believe survivors and I believe in survivors.
- [Women] We believe you!
- I believe in our resilience and our power, (sobs)
and in our ability to change the world!
(audience cheers and applauds)
- [Women] Love, not hate, makes America great!
- Casting couch culture in Hollywood is a real thing.
(dark dramatic music)
It's difficult because when you want something so, so much,
you're pretty much willing to sacrifice anything
to make your career come true.
So even if you've signed an NDA,
that doesn't mean that you are going to be safe
from something happening to you.
So if a director says, "Oh, come up to my room for a drink,"
or, "Come over here and sit next to me,"
or they put a hand on your leg or something like that,
there is a certain amount of expectation that that
is normalized in the entertainment industry for sure.
(slow somber string music)
I got into a argument a couple of years ago with my aunt
about it because she came of age like in the 70s,
working in the entertainment industry.
And she's just so vehemently like pro Me Too.
And I was saying to her, I'm like,
"Well, what do you think's gonna happen
if you go up to somebody's room?
What do you think of this, that and the other?"
And it made me scared how calloused I'd become
because coming up in the entertainment industry,
I was just so used to your ass getting grabbed
or walking in on some guy masturbating,
and you're expected to join into it if that's
what it's going to mean for you to get the next step up.
It's just all part.
It's just as normal as going and reading lines
or going to a promotional party to listen to a record.
It's just part of the whole business.
So when Me Too started, it was both a relief,
but also, it wasn't surprising to me, to be fair,
because it had been going on as long as I can remember.
(people cheer and clap) (muffled chatter)
(elevator bell dings) (tense brooding music)
- [Narrator] Time passed and the allegations soon drifted
into obscurity until one segment
in a comedian's act reignited the outcry for justice.
October 16th, 2014.
- It's not 'cause I don't care about the cause.
- [Narrator] Comedian Hannibal Buress delivers a set
in the city of Philadelphia, Cosby's home county.
- 'Cause comedy is subjective and I'm not for everybody.
- [Narrator] Unaware to him,
his joke ridiculing the past alleged actions
of Bill Cosby goes viral.
The mainstream attention garnered becomes the catalyst
for resurgence of claims.
The public outcry begins.
November 10th, 2014.
In an attempt
to quash the increasingly damaging accusations,
Cosby's public relations team devises a way
to engage creatively with fans,
expecting to deflect the heightened media interest
into his alleged exploitative behavior.
(tense music)
Posted on Twitter,
Cosby invites the social media world to meme him.
November 15th, 2014.
In a revealing interview on NPR's "Weekend Edition,"
Bill's refusal to answer an unexpected question
on the matter only leads to more questions.
Barbara Bowman, one of the initial 13 accusers
in Constand versus Cosby wrote an opinion piece
in the "Washington Post" only two days prior,
questioning why it took 30 years for people to believe her.
To many, silence speaks louder than words.
- [Scott] This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby,
but there have been serious allegations raised
about you in recent days.
You're shaking your head no. I'm in the news business.
I have to ask the question.
Do you have any response to those charges?
Shaking your head no.
There are people who love you
who might like to hear from you about this.
I wanted to give you the chance. All right.
- [Narrator] Bowman's renewed effort
to highlight her alleged ordeal spurs a slew
of fresh allegations towards the now defunct dad of America.
(machine whirs)
In the days following the prejudicial print piece,
Joan Tarshis, Linda Joy Traitz, Janice Dickinson,
Theresa Serignese, and Carla Ferrigno,
wife of "The Incredible Hulk" actor,
all proclaimed the pain they had allegedly suffered
at the comedian's hands.
Lawyers for Cosby labeled the accounts of rape
as decades old and discredited.
Prior to the tsunami of allegations against his conduct,
Bill spent most of 2014 preparing to take a new show to air.
The resurfaced accusations derailed his plans,
forcing NBC to scrap the program.
(cars whoosh past)
November 23rd, 2014.
(birds chirp)
A former NBC employee discloses
to the "New York Daily News" the tactics used
by Cosby keep women silent.
- So hush money is what people call cash that has given
to them on the sly to keep quiet.
So I give you money.
You're not supposed to tell anybody what the money is about,
who you got money for, or even that you received cash.
So it was exactly what it is, cash to keep quiet.
- [Narrator] Frank allegedly provided hush payments
on behalf of Bill to eight women,
a common practice amongst those
in positions of power within our society.
- What I wanna talk about?
Talk about the money orders that I have that I had
to send to women all over the United States and Europe.
I was paying her $2,000.
I had to go to five different banks
because you couldn't make a money order for less than $50.
You couldn't go beyond that.
So I had to go to five banks to get the $2,000
and then send it, forward it there,
four or five different checks.
Why would I would be sending some woman $2,000?
Suspicious.
- Cosby had him send thousands of dollars of hush money
to a slew of women to keep them quiet
about some inappropriate interactions
that happened between them and Cosby.
- [Narrator] November 26th, 2014.
(tense brooding music)
Within a week, Cosby resigns from two positions he once held
with academia as trustees for Temple University
and honorary co-chair for the University of Massachusetts.
With every fresh allegation,
Cosby's larger than life persona shrunk.
In front of the news media,
more women come forward with claims of sexual abuse.
- For any woman who claims that she is a victim,
Bill Cosby could agree to waive the statute
of limitations and invite the accusers to sue.
Then Bill Cosby and his accusers would have an opportunity
to go before a judge and a jury, and everybody wins.
(cameras click)
- Thank you.
Thank you.
(sighs) When I arrived backstage, Mr. Cosby greeted me
(laughs) and handed me a cappucino,
telling me that he made me my favorite coffee.
Thank you.
And after I drank it, I felt dizzy and lost consciousness.
The next thing I knew, hours had passed.
I woke up in the back of my car alone.
My clothes were a mess. My bra was undone.
- He approached me from behind and reached
over my shoulder and grabbed my right breast.
I was stunned and angry because he had no right to do that,
and I didn't know why he would behave that way.
His behavior was like that of a predator.
Thank you.
(cameras click)
- He laid to me on the bed
and began pinching my left nipple,
pumping on my leg while he was grunting.
I could not open my eyes. (voice breaks)
I couldn't move or say anything.
I felt something warm on my legs, and I blacked out.
13 to 16 hours later, I woke up to him clapping his hands,
saying, "Daddy says wake up."
(Chelan sniffles)
- [Narrator] But one damaging claim
sends the issue back to court.
(brakes squeak) (tense brooding music)
December 2nd, 2014.
- Here to tell survivors that they're.
- [Narrator] In a new civil suit filed,
Cosby is alleged to have performed a sex act in 1974
at the Playboy Mansion on Judy Huth,
who was only 15 at the time.
Cosby refused the claim encounters with his own lawsuit,
stating he was a target of an extortion campaign.
♪ Hey, yeah (pleasant guitar music)
We don't take kindly to liars.
- [Woman] That's right. That's right.
Bill Cosby, we want you!
♪ Bill Cosby go home
It's not business as usual. Stuff has happened.
(muffled chatter)
- From Bill Cosby, the end result for me is that folks
who might be perpetrators know that there are consequences,
and also on the more positive side,
that we continue this conversation
that's really been ramping up in the last five years
about ending rape culture.
- [Crowd] Rape culture's got to go!
(muffled shouting)
(horn honks)
- Lynch mob justice is not justice.
Bill is innocent until proven guilty, okay?
Due process must be sacrosanct.
The rule of law must be applied.
Lynching him in the public is, in effect,
poisoning any jury pool that could be convened to try Bill.
- As Me Too started to gain momentum,
you also had celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg
and singer Jill Scott, when it came to the Bill Cosby case,
backing up Cosby and really thinking
that the allegations against him were false
and they just could not possibly be true.
(muffled shouting)
- [Narrator] Seen on "The View,"
Whoopi vocally supports Cosby,
implying some accusers were deceitful.
- One of the things that getting accused
of a lot of stuff when you're a famous does
is it opens the door for everybody to come out and say,
"And me, too, boss, and me, too."
It's like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
So you'd have to really like take a minute
and follow the evidence, follow what happens.
Follow what happens.
We see that other friends of ours in a similar position
are being accused of something,
so cops are still investigating.
We'll know when we know.
- After so many different cases had gone to court,
they retracted and had to go back and say,
"Okay, yes, we believe the women."
But I think that the issue of race also did play into it.
How can you be saying this about this amazing figure
in the black community after everything he's done?
And you see that, I think, in other cases, too.
you see that with, for example, R. Kelly.
There's this kind of abuse.
There's other factors that can come into play
in terms of why we may doubt the validity
of the women or the people involved.
(soft tense piano music)
- [Narrator] December 3rd, 2014.
Breaking his long silence through Twitter,
Cosby sends his family's thanks to the stars who,
in recent days, publicly defended him.
Since the remarks were made,
both Whoopi Goldberg and Jill Scott
have distanced themselves from their comments
and reversed their stance.
(muffled chatter)
- All right, so- - They all melted!
- [Woman] All right, so we're at your car.
- Got it. - All right, and then-
- [Man] What's your favorite pudding flavor?
- Lauren is gonna- - chocolate.
- Lauren is gonna be in the car with you,
and I'll meet you around the block
when you're at your next stop. - Heard you twice.
Heard you twice. - All right.
There we go. - Bye bye.
(tense brooding music)
- [Narrator] December 16th, 2014.
On grounds that the statute of limitations had passed,
the case brought against Cosby relating to the claim
of underaged sexual exploitation is thrown out.
(tool whirs) (muffled chatter)
On the same day, three more women are unveiled
to the media with fresh accusations.
Phylicia Rashad, the actress who played the better half
of Mr. Huxtable on "The Cosby Show,"
has her say on the matter
in an exclusive ABC news interview,
suggesting a more nefarious plot is at play.
- He's a genius. He is generous.
He's kind. He's inclusive.
What has happened is declaration in the media of guilt.
Without proof, what I said is this is not about the women.
This is about something else.
This is about the obliteration of legacy.
(muffled chatter) (cameras click)
- [Narrator] Throughout 2015,
as accusations continue to flood in,
waves of women are sat in front
of the media to tell their stories.
- These new accusers are coming forward now,
either because they want to support other alleged victims
or because they feel that they
could no longer hold the secret within them anymore.
Linda alleges that the following happened.
She says, "I felt Cosby's left hand gently grab my long hair
behind my head.
His giant frame blocked the door
so if anyone should try to enter,
they would not be able to see what he was doing.
As I looked up, his penis was out of his pants,
and he shoved it into my mouth.
His attack was fast with surgical precision,
and surprise was on his side."
- The last thing that I remember until I woke up
about five, 5:15 in the afternoon.
(dark brooding music)
I was shocked. I didn't know how I had lost so much time.
My boyfriend, who later became my fiance and husband,
was supposed to pick me up at six o'clock.
My clothes were thrown all over the room,
and I felt semen on the small of my back and all over me.
It was disgusting.
Bill obviously did not use a condom, and there was no lunch,
and Bill was nowhere to be seen.
I was confused and ashamed and never told anyone
about what happened to me.
- I remember eating and watching most of the show,
but right before the show was over,
everything became a blur.
I believe someone had put something in my drink.
This is really hard.
I don't remember leaving the dinner show,
and when I came to, I was lying in Bill Cosby's bed.
- Bill would fly me back and forth
between New York City and Buffalo.
He waited almost two years before he tried anything on me
because he knew...
(dramatic music)
(chuckles) It's okay.
Because you knew that I was a virgin
and I was raised as a Christian.
Bill then yelled, "Well, you're never going to make it
in this business unless you sleep with me," and I responded,
"Shame on you, Mr. Father Figure of America.
Your kids are older than I am."
- I felt unusually dizzy.
After a while, Mr. Cosby started getting fresh.
He was touching me and rubbing my leg.
The next thing I remember,
I was waking up in my car,
my head hanging down from the seat alone.
I knew I was drugged.
When I got home, I realized my panties
were missing and I never found them.
I believe that Mr. Cosby took them after he assaulted me.
- A man grabbed me from behind very firmly
and quite purposefully.
He had his arm on my waist and forcefully pulled me
into his private area saying,
Hey, back that thing up here, girl, back it on up."
I felt his private parts against my backside.
I cried out and tried to pull away
from his vice-like grip on my waist.
- He leaned me up against the chest,
raise my robe, and raped me.
Next, Cosby took me into the dining room
and laid me on the floor where he continued his assault.
I did not realize until last year that the other women
were telling me their stories and that they were drugged.
- There are still more alleged victims
who will be courageous enough to come forward in the future.
It is vital that the women who assert
that they are victims speak out.
(ethereal music)
- [Narrator] July 6th, 2015.
In responding to some of the new allegations,
Cosby breaches the terms of a nondisclosure agreement.
Constand files a motion to have her deposition unsealed.
The grant allows court documents
from the 2005 lawsuit to be revealed,
showing Cosby had admitted to giving Quaaludes
to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
The situation went from bad to worse.
(muffled chanting and shouting)
July 26th, 2015.
Spelman college returns the remaining funds
of his $20 million donation to the historically black school
while ceasing the professorship in honor of him.
Both the Marquette and Fordham Universities
rescind the honorary degrees bestowed upon him.
Tufts University, Gaucher College,
and Amherst College followed suit,
the latter being the first time in the college's history.
(car whooshes past)
December 14th, 2015.
Seven of Cosby's accusers receive countersuits,
claiming defamation against the once revered comic.
By the end of the year, over 50 women have come forward
and recounted their ordeals, most throughout 2015.
- The picture has nothing to do with a legal problem at all,
not a thing.
The picture was there long before these people even came
about with the legal problem,
but I don't believe those women at all, I really don't.
- Bill Cosby been a role model for what, 50 years or more.
And these people come out of the woodwork
with all this allegations or whatever.
They have to prove that, really.
- I think that it's not somebody
that should be glorified in public.
But yeah, I think it's also important that it's proven.
(soft tense music) (muffled music plays on radio)
- [Narrator] Bill was free until now.
- Some of this- - And right?
- Well, we're shooting over there, move down there.
(muffled speaking) (people laugh)
- You walked away. - Okay, thank you!
- [Man] Thank you.
- Hello, Mr. Cosby- - Yes sir, that's enough.
- [Man] Mr. Cosby.
- December 30th, 2015.
For the first time only two weeks before the statute
of limitations would have expired,
Bill Cosby is charged with drugging
and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Cosby remained silent on the plea
and is free on a $1 million bail.
- This indictment today undermines his claims
to be a consensual sexual partner.
There's a certain vindication for my clients
who've been saying, "This is the type of person
that would do this kind of thing."
(cameras click) (muffled chatter)
(traffic hums)
- [Narrator] May 24th, 2016, Montgomery County Courthouse.
Failing to nullify the case through objections,
Cosby takes the stand and enters a plea of not guilty.
(soft poignant string music)
- [Woman] Good morning, everyone.
This is a great day for the state of Colorado.
It's a great day because the doors of justice
are open for crime victims
who have been victimized by sexual assault.
- Today, I'm very happy to be here in Colorado
to witness Colorado governor John Hickenlooper's signing
of HB16-1260 into law.
I represent more than 30 accusers of Bill Cosby,
including Denver resident Beth Ferrier.
Many of my clients who alleged that they
were drugged and raped are prevented
from having their cases ever considered for prosecution
by the district attorney in Colorado
because of the statute of limitations,
the arbitrary time period set by law.
In other words, it's too late for a criminal prosecution,
even if the district attorney concludes
that there is sufficient evidence
to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
As lawyers and as legislators,
we should ask who benefits from a relatively short statute
of limitations for rape and sexual assault
and who is hurt by it.
The answer is simple.
The victim is hurt and the rapist is helped.
She must live with the knowledge
that she is being denied justice,
and he is happy that he is free to rape again.
I commend her tireless and successful efforts
to win passage of HB16-1260, the bill signed into law today
which will extend the statute of limitations in Colorado
to 20 years for criminal prosecution for rape.
- [Narrator] June 10th, 2016, Colorado.
(poignant pleasant music)
Seen as a barrier for victimized women,
Beth Ferrier, one of the Cosby accusers,
is successful in altering the status quo
surrounding the statute of limitations.
- Each and every time we had a hurdle
with Gloria telling me, "Beth, be the change,
do something good," and I didn't know what to do.
(muffled chatter)
June 8th, my birthday, Rhonda finally,
we've heard from the governor's office, finally,
that this was the final day that that bill,
House Bill 1260, could be signed.
And Gloria, my attorney, represents me.
I am a victim of sexual assault,
drugged and sexually assaulted
by Bill Cosby here in Denver in 1986.
So I'm here to tell you, you can survive.
You have to speak up,
and that's what I want the community in Colorado to know.
Do not stay quiet. Do not stay in the shadows.
Don't be afraid anymore. Don't be depressed.
It's not a bad thing. It's not about you.
It's your voice.
(muffled chatter) (soft contemplative music)
(Beth laughs)
- [Narrator] July 18th, 2016.
In a drastic turn of events,
sources closest to Cosby share news
of his physical deterioration.
Now suffering
from the degenerative eye condition keratoconus,
Bill is completely blind.
For critics who draw comparisons
with Harvey Weinstein's Walker,
it could be seen as a sympathy tactic.
(muffled chatter) (traffic hums)
September 9th, 2016.
In a statement read by Cosby's lawyers
referencing the civil rights leaders of the past,
his defense put forward the notion that Cosby
is the target of racial discrimination.
It is the first time their accusation
is put in the public sphere.
- Mr. Cosby has spent his entire life trying
to fight against injustice and trying
to help other people overcome racism and prejudice.
Through the power and brilliance of his comedy,
through the power of his words,
and through his countless acts of charity,
he has given a generation of Americans the ability
to have pride, to have hope.
He taught an absolute generation of Americans
to trust in America, to trust that in America,
regardless of who you are or where you're from
or the color of your skin, that your courts
and the media will treat you fairly and with decency.
That trust has been shaken.
The media has presumed him guilty, not innocent.
The media has championed the causes of his accusers
with little thought to investigation,
with little thought to challenging
or exposing the motivations behind any accusations,
and in the courts,
we have seen a prosecutor break a promise,
a time-honored promise in this case.
And for those that have stood up for Mr. Cosby,
for those that have proclaimed his innocence,
well, they have been sued and they have been vilified
and they have been silenced and they have been ignored,
but no more.
The time has come for somebody somewhere
to shine a spotlight on the trampling
of this man's civil rights, and that time is now.
A smart man a long time ago said that,
"Injustice anywhere is in fact a threat
to justice everywhere."
Those words were true when they were spoken
and they are true today.
- [Woman] Are you saying
that he won't get a fair trial, sir?
- Because of the lack of cooperation
and the lack of investigation,
we have seen a barrage of new accusers claiming Me Too.
To accept the assumption of guilty by numbers
or guilt by volume is really the same thing
as accepting the assumption of guilt before innocence.
For Mr. Cosby, this is a version of the shoot now,
ask questions later approach to judicial justice
that you're seeing in the streets.
Victims of sexual assault
deserve our support and protection.
Women should not be objectified,
but not at the cost
of sacrificing every person's fundamental right
to be deemed innocent before proven guilty,
to require that the accuser come forward with evidence.
To settle for anything less is not women's rights.
It's not about feminism.
It's about sacrificing civil rights and human rights.
Thank you.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
(tense dramatic music) (muffled chatter)
- Still love you, sir. - Thank you.
(cameras click)
- [Narrator] June 5th, 2017.
(tense music) (cameras click)
- [Man] Mr. Cosby, sir, how do you feel
about the first day of trial?
(muffled shouting)
- [Woman] Mr. Cosby, how are you feeling today?
- [Narrator] Cosby, arm in arm with former costar
of "The Cosby Show," Keshia Knight Pulliam,
arrives in Montgomery to start the trial
that will decide his future.
- This is never anything that feels good.
However, I came to support because this
is where you hear the facts.
This is where the truth happens.
I don't take these charges lightly.
I don't condone sexual assault in any way, shape or form.
It's easy to support someone and to be in their corner
when things are great, when things are good,
but true family, friendship, integrity
is how do people show up and support
when things aren't looking so great.
(gate rattles) (muffled speaking)
- This is just the beginning!
And we want the citizens of Montgomery County
to see that this trial is to not be going on!
They're wasting the taxpayer's money,
and Mr. Cosby should not be here!
Mr. Cosby maintains his innocence,
and he will be found not guilty of all charges!
Thank you.
(muffled shouting) (tense music)
- [Woman] Mr. Cosby, where is his wife?
- [Narrator] June 17th, 2017.
After six days, 52 hours of heated deliberation
between the seven men and five women jury ends
in a mistrial.
The inflamed debate that left the one juror
with his fist in a wall winds down at 10 to two
in favor of a guilty motion.
Two hold outs prevent a guilty verdict.
- Well, I wanted to come out and address what we just heard
from the judge about a deadlock.
Today, we have really seen Mr. Cosby get the justice
that he was looking for in Montgomery County.
- The judge has announced that the jury
has stated that it is deadlocked.
However, that does not mean this is over.
- [Narrator] Prosecutor Kevin Steele vows to retry the case.
(dark brooding music)
January 26th, 2018.
In a tense turn of events,
accusations of prosecutorial misconduct
are filed by Cosby's attorneys,
citing a withholding and destroying
of evidence that could have aided his defense.
The evidence in question?
An interview conducted with a woman claiming that Constand
had told her she had not been sexually assaulted
and was instead looking to get money.
District attorney Kevin Steele in charge of the case
calls the accusations "demonstrably false,"
claiming Cosby's former counsel was aware
of the interview prior to the first trial.
April 2nd, 2018.
The second trial of Constand versus Cosby begins.
Cosby continues to deny all charges against him,
stating the encounters with Constand were consensual.
(muffled chatter)
(man gasps) (woman yells)
A week into proceedings, the figure of hush money payments
to Cosby's primary accuser is disclosed
by the prosecution for the first time.
A 3.38 million payment was sent in exchange for silence.
- [Women] No more silence! Stop sexual violence!
No more silence! Our voices will break through!
That's why we say me too. Our voices will break through!
Our voices will break through! That's why we say me too!
Our voices will break through! Me too!
Our voices will break through!
- This case really is a representation of how our country
has dealt with sexual violence over the last 50 years.
Here, we have someone who has not been held accountable
until now, and we hope that this time around,
the jury will come to the right conclusion
because justice needs to be done,
not just for Andrea but for all of his victims
and for victims across the country.
- People don't get justice every day
because someone has power, and it's usually a male
who has power who can turn things in his favor.
But I don't think the Me Too movement
is really going to make a difference here.
It just showed the large scale of people who are surviving
and dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse
that we can't let people go into court systems anymore
and walk out of there free from their crime.
(tense music)
(muffled chatter)
- [Man] How you feeling, Mr. Cosby? How you feeling?
(muffled shouting)
- (muffled shouting) Bill Cosby is a rapist!
(muffled shouting)
(boom echoes)
(muffled shouting) (booming tense ethereal music)
- [Narrator] April 26th, 2018.
After deliberating for the past day,
jurors unveil their verdict,
guilty on three felony counts
of aggravated indecent assault.
(muffled shouting)
- So today, we're finally in a place
to say that justice was done.
Aas prosecutors, we have a responsibility to seek justice,
and we have to go wherever and to whomever it takes us.
And I hope and I pray that our actions have shown
that we will stand up with those victims
and all women that are out there standing up
and telling their truth, I, we support them
and encourage them to keep it up.
- It took a lot of courage for her
to come back and to do this.
(women cheer)
- We are so happy that finally we can say women
are believed and not only on #MeToo
but in a court of law where they were under oath,
where they testified truthfully.
- It is not just a victory for the 62
of us publicly known Cosby survivors
whom Gloria Alred has helped give a voice!
It is also a victory for womanhood,
and it is a victory for all sexual assault survivors,
female and male!
Last year when I was sitting in the courtroom
of the first trial and the verdict was hung,
I left with such a tremendous sense of disappointment,
and it became evident to me that the justice system
is light years behind modern culture!
But today this jury has shown what the Me Too movement
is saying is that women are worthy of being believed!
- Though, Tom Mesereau, you tried, you failed.
The personal attacks did not work.
Bill Cosby, three words for you.
Guilty.
- [Unison] Guilty, guilty!
- Thank you.
(audience cheers and applauds) (tense ethereal music)
- [Narrator] With his reputation already in pieces,
news of Bill's guilty verdict
pushes the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences
to expel him.
September 24th, 2018. Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Under house arrest,
Cosby arrives in court to hear his fate.
The following day, Judge O'Neill
sentences the embattled comedian
to three to 10 years behind bars
and designated as a sexually violent predator.
- I'm pleased that Judge O'Neill
filed the sentencing guidelines,
handed down a fair and significant sentence
that reflects the severity of Cosby's crimes
and the lifelong impact on Andrea.
After three years of incarceration,
somebody would be eligible for parole,
but victims get a say in that now,
and that has come over time, and they get a say.
And so this is gonna be a process that that goes through,
but he could serve every day of 10 years at this point,
and that's the sentence that he was given.
(muffled chatter) (tense music)
- [Narrator] December 10th, 2019.
In their own search for justice,
Cosby's counsel receives news
of the unanimous judicial decision to reject the appeal
but vow to appeal to the Supreme Court.
June 23rd, 2020.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agrees
to hear Cosby's legal appeal.
A date is set for the return of their arguments.
December 1st, 2020.
Appearing over video link,
attorneys for the jailed star argue the trial
should not have come about in the first place,
citing a non-prosecution deal
with the former Montgomery County district attorney,
Bruce Castor Jr.,
a deal undisclosed to Constand and her team.
The deal that was also never put
in writing gave justices a cause for thought.
June 30th, 2021.
Over two and a half years
into a 3-to-10-year sentencing,
Cosby receives the news he had been waiting for.
A promise that was made behind closed doors
with no written confirmation
of the former prosecutor 16 years ago
is enough evidence to overturn his 2018 conviction.
According to due process,
the deal should have prohibited Cosby
from being charged or sentence in the first place.
The decision, not based on guilt or innocence,
lies within the principle of fairness
that underpins due process.
The agreement between Cosby and Castor
in 2005 must be upheld.
The Supreme court of Pennsylvania orders the release
of the man the country once coined America's favorite dad.
Cosby walks free.
- We're not lying!
We believe the survivors!
(muffled shouting)
We believe the survivors!
- (muffled speaking) Constitution,
and that's the type of fairness that was requiring.
- 1:26.
- We'll be back.
Thank you so much
- We believe the survivors! - for being here.
We couldn't be more thrilled.
- And we're gonna be coming back out (indistinct).
(muffled shouting)
- [Woman] Testimony!
(muffled shouting)
- [Woman] He can't even make (indistinct) anymore!
- Purchasing drugs for the purpose of drugging women!
Bill Cosby said that!
He purchased drugs for the purpose of drugging women!
(booms echoes)
- [Woman] He's a guilty man!
- And I want to say this
about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
They were impervious to the court of public opinion,
which, frankly, the lower courts are not.
- Today, innocence came to Mr. Cosby
with the help of these wonderful attorneys.
- Yes yes! - Oh, hey hey!
- 204. - Hey hey hey!
(muffled shouting)
- [Man] Okay everybody.
- The Supreme Court's opinion
did not reject the accusations made by 60 women
against Bill Cosby that they had been sexually assaulted,
the Supreme Court opinion did not reject the testimony
of the five women who testified
in Mr. Cosby's criminal trial,
and by all certainty, it didn't reject the decision
of the jury in the criminal trial to find Mr. Cosby guilty
of all counts of criminal wrongdoing.
- Mr. Cosby, don't say anything.
Just wave at the British office.
(tense music)
- Where? - They're on the phone.
They're watching you now, the British office.
- Mr. Cosby, you must- - Do you-
- [Woman] Mr. Cosby, you must be delighted.
I'm telling this lady.
(audience laughs)
You had plenty of time when Steve was up here
to start talking about a whooping,
and you go get a knife and go.
(audience laughs)
Now what was it you wanted to say?
(audience laughs)
Thank you all, take care of yourself, and good night.