Bill Cosby recently released a bizarre 10-second video message to his fans, and it’s drawing a lot of attention on the web this week.
Dressed in pajamas on a fake living room set, Cosby speaks into a rotary phone to what viewers must assume is a fan, assuring them that he would still be playing a show in West Virginia.
“Yes, I’m going to be in Wheeling, West Virginia, Capitol Music Hall. Eight o’clock show, that’s right. And you know I’ll be hilarious. Can’t wait,” Cosby says.
Cosby also released a written note in character as Fat Albert which reads, “Dear Fans: I hope you enjoy my wonderful video message that’s filled with laughter. Hey, hey, hey, I’m far from finished.”
Following numerous allegations of sexual assault going back decades, the beloved comedian has canceled several shows on his tour but hasn’t said much to the media. The video has drawn quite a bit of negative attention on the web this week, with some outlets attempting to analyze it in the context of the recent accusations.
“Cosby wears a pair of silk pajamas, suggesting he is jarringly comfortable even amid this crumbling façade. The pajamas are an emblematic nod to his accusers’ stories, most of which involve Cosby putting them to sleep, as well as to how much Cosby doesn’t give a f**k…deliberately out of touch, Cosby speaks on an old, outdated rotary phone, the kind still used only by those who stubbornly cling to the past and enjoy Bill Cosby’s comedy. Symbolizing his refusal to speak directly, Cosby holds the phone to his nose,” writes AVClub’s Sean O’Neal.
Jennifer Thompson, one of the more recent women to come forward with stories of abuse at Cosby’s hands, says she was just 17 when her parents gave her permission to live in an apartment with other aspiring models so that Cosby could help start up her career. It was the beginning of a dark time, wherein she had to constantly put him off when he made sexual advances. At one point, she did engage in a sexual act with him, and he later paid her.
“It basically shattered my faith so that anything that used to look promising to me, I saw it through a different lens,” she said.
Thompson’s mother was in headlines this week after she wrote a letter to Cosby’s wife, Camille. Judy Thompson said she reached out mother-to-mother to Camille in the hopes that the truth would come out; so far, Camille has not responded.
“Your husband crossed boundaries that never should have been breached. He shattered her innocence. May you and Bill speak the truth and be afforded peace for your souls,” Thompson wrote.