Request Media Kit

Camille Cosby: ‘An Invasion of Our Private Lives’

Camille Cosby has become the focus of much interest in the weeks and months since news of allegations against Bill Cosby broke. While there has been no credible accusation that Camille Cosby is in any...
Camille Cosby: ‘An Invasion of Our Private Lives’
Written by Mike Tuttle
  • Camille Cosby has become the focus of much interest in the weeks and months since news of allegations against Bill Cosby broke. While there has been no credible accusation that Camille Cosby is in any way complicit in any allegations against her husband, folks do want to get a sense of where Camille stands in all this.

    Perhaps she might offer a clue as to whether these allegations are true?

    Might her response to the contents of Bill Cosby’s recently-unearthed deposition help shed some light on who he really is or may be?

    An important thing to consider is that this is not the first time Camille Cosby has had to weather out a public scandal at her husband’s side. In 1997, right after news of the tragic killing of their son Ennis, news also broke that Bill Cosby had been making payments since the 1970s to a woman who may or may not have been the mother of his child.

    The whole thing became public because the child, one Autumn Jackson, attempted to extort even more money from Cosby. He called in his lawyers; they called the FBI; the girl was arrested.

    The true paternity of Autumn Jackson was never determined, but it did tell the public that Bill Cosby had cheated on Camille.

    Camille Cosby gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey in the May 2000 issue of Oprah Magazine. In that interview, Camille talked candidly with Oprah about that time, the loss of her son, and how she and Bill dealt with his infidelity. Her reactions at the time may shed some light on her statements — and silences — now.

    Oprah asked Camille Cosby when she had learned about Bill’s affair with Autumn Jackson’s mother.

    “Oh, years ago,” Camille replied. “Back in the seventies, I knew about that.”

    Camille said she encouraged Bill to go through with a paternity test, otherwise “Autumn Jackson and her cohorts could continue with their story.”

    Jackson ended up refusing to submit to the test herself, so paternity was never determined. But the news of the affair was out. It is Camille Cosby’s reaction to that becoming public that may be revealing. She said she was embarrassed, but not about Bill’s cheating.

    “It was embarrassing in terms of it being an invasion of our private lives. That was something very personal, between the two of us… I already knew, but it wasn’t for the whole world to know.”

    Camille Cosby has said that honesty and integrity are of major importance to her, but she has also had to circle the wagons for her family more than once. Perhaps she sees this scandal as a threat to her family unit, regardless of whether the truth behind it might mean that her own husband is not a man of integrity? Perhaps family is more important to her to defend than her concern about Bill himself?

    The question is, if the allegations are true: Does she feel all these women deserve justice … or will she go on characterizing her husband as the victim?

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit