“Ebony” Magazine’s Controversial “Cosby Show” Cover Elicits Criticism and Praise

Ebony magazine’s November issue comes with a rather controversial cover. The Cosby Show cast members appear on it, as though under glass in a frame photo. That glass is broken, smashed hard over...
“Ebony” Magazine’s Controversial “Cosby Show” Cover Elicits Criticism and Praise
Written by Kimberly Ripley
  • Ebony magazine’s November issue comes with a rather controversial cover. The Cosby Show cast members appear on it, as though under glass in a frame photo. That glass is broken, smashed hard over the face of Bill Cosby.

    Ebony received many comments regarding the Cosby cover on its Facebook page.

    “wow —how quickly everyone is jumping on the ‘bash Bill Cosby” bandwagon… none of these allegations have been proven — I expect this from white people, but from Ebony?— wow,” one commenter weighed in.

    “Kudos to everyone at Ebony for having the courage to take a bold, powerful stand!” another wrote.

    Comments were Tweeted, too.

    Malcolm Jamal Warner played Theo Huxtable–the son of Bill Cosby’s character, Dr. Cliff Hustable on The Cosby Show. Raven-Symone played Cliff’s granddaughter Olivia. Both actors weighed in on the Ebony Cosby cover Friday on The View.

    “We really don’t have enough time on this show to really talk about how I feel about that,” Warner said.

    “Let’s not forget that The Cosby Show was a sitcom and not a reality show,” Raven-SymonĂ© added. “Let’s just remember that this was a sitcom and we had writers and things of that nature.”

    “That’s the show that we’re all very proud to have been on,” Warner said.

    Earlier in October, Malcolm Jamal Warner talked of how The Cosby Show set a great example, and that recent allegations against Bill Cosby had tarnished its reputation.

    “When we’ve had images that perpetuate the negative stereotype of people of color, we’ve always had The Cosby Show to hold up against that,” he said. “And the fact that we no longer have that, kinda leaves us not in a great place in terms of having the wide scope of the images of people of color.”

    Keshia Knight Pulliam played Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show. She said “based upon the people that continuously approach me and talk about how it’s profoundly impacted their lives, I don’t feel you can take that back.”

    “The generation of people of color who have chosen to go to college because they watched that show…you can’t take that away,” Warner also said on The View.

    Did Ebony magazine cross a line? In taking aim at Bill Cosby did they also tarnish something many families–not just families of color, either–had held dear for decades?

    It would certainly be interesting to learn if more people who viewed this Ebony Cosby cover believe the magazine is right or wrong in featuring the cast members of The Cosby Show collectively in such a negative light.

    What’s your take?

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