Entertainment

Bill Cosby Accuser’s Mom Appeals to Comedian’s Wife

Published

12 years ago

March 10, 2015

In this March 6, 2015 photo, Jennifer Thompson pauses before answering a question during an interview at her family’s home in Spring Hill, Fla. When Thompson’s parents met comedian Bill Cosby in the late 1980s to discuss her modeling and acting career, they felt immediately at ease. However, more than 20 women have stepped forward in recent months to level various accusations against Cosby, ranging from unwanted advances to sexual assault and rape. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press

SPRING HILL, Fla. (AP) — When William and Judy Thompson met comedian Bill Cosby in the late 1980s to discuss their teen daughter’s modeling and acting career, they felt immediately at ease.

Cosby and William Thompson both belonged to black fraternities in college. They both had lived in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area. Both were born in July and both went by Bill as a first name.

Cosby reassured the Thompsons that their then-17-year-old daughter, Jennifer, would be fine living in an apartment with other models as she launched her career. He promised to help the teen, they said.

“We thought we were talking to Dr. Huxtable,” said William Thompson, referring to the comedian’s TV persona in “The Cosby Show.”

Jennifer Thompson now says she fended off unwanted sexual advances from Cosby and once performed a sex act on the comedian. He then gave her $700. That encounter — their final — clouded Jennifer Thompson’s next two decades.

“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, now 44, and her parents recently spoke to The Associated Press about the encounters with Cosby. They also revealed that three weeks ago, Judy Thompson sent a letter to Cosby’s wife, Camille.

“Mother to mother,” said Judy Thompson. “This letter was written from my heart.”

More than 20 women have stepped forward in recent months to level various accusations against Cosby, ranging from unwanted advances to sexual assault and rape. Additionally, Cosby is being sued by three women for defamation and by another woman who says he molested her when she was 15. Cosby has not been charged with any crime, and neither Cosby’s lawyer nor his spokesman returned calls seeking comment. Cosby’s lawyer, Martin Singer, previously has denied some of the allegations and made no comment on others.

Judy Thompson said she was inspired to pen the letter after she read Camille Cosby’s statement issued in December suggesting that her husband, not the women, is the party being harmed by the women’s allegations.

“None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim,” Camille Cosby said. “But the question should be asked __ who is the victim?”

Judy Thompson bristled when she read Cosby’s words. She said she watched her daughter go from a sparkling, ambitious teen to a woman “with an inner light extinguished.”

Only recently has Jennifer Thompson emerged from under “the dark cloud,” said Judy Thompson, who included a Psalms prayer in the letter.

“Your husband crossed boundaries that never should have been breached,” she wrote to Camille Cosby. “He shattered her innocence.”

Judy Thompson said she prays daily for the Cosbys and ended the letter by writing, “May you and Bill speak the truth and be afforded peace for your souls.”

It could not be determined whether Camille Cosby received the letter.

Judy Thompson said that it was difficult to find anyone, even a therapist, who would believe her daughter’s story. She didn’t go to police.

“To be so hurt and violated, and then not be believed! Resolution has not been easily forthcoming. We all remained in the shadows of your husband’s sick behavior,” she wrote.

Jennifer Thompson was one 13 so-called “Jane Does” in a 2005 civil suit that was brought by a woman named Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who claimed Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004.

Constand later settled out of court and Thompson and the other women did not testify in the case.

Cosby on Monday released a new video message, his first in months. He doesn’t discuss the allegations and in the short video, promoted his Saturday show in Wheeling, West Virginia, the next stop in Cosby’s stand-up comedy tour which has seen more than a dozen shows canceled since the most recent round of allegations arose in November.

“You know I’ll be hilarious,” Cosby said in the video. “Can’t wait.”

He also added a note to the video, which read: “Dear fans, I hope you enjoy my wonderful video message that’s filled with laughter… Hey, hey, hey, I’m far from finished.”

____

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

The Premiere Boxing Championship in Las Vegas

Don't Miss

‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett Comes Out: ‘There is No Closet That I’ve Ever Been In’

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of September 30 – October 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 30 – October 6, 2026

Published

1 week ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Business

From Historic Memories to New Possibilities: Oakland Celebrates Coliseum 60

More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, September 18, for Coliseum 60, an event marking six decades of sports, entertainment, employment, and community memories at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex. Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum first opened, the celebration featured cultural performances and a mini-documentary highlighting its history. Speakers reflected on the venue’s significant role in the community and its future possibilities. Read more to learn about the individuals and stories honored during this special event.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 27, 2026

Post News Group

Quixote Atkins of VillageGIVE moderates a panel discussion at the Coliseum 60 celebration at Youth UpRising featuring Keith Brown, a member of IATSE Local 107; author, historian and former Black Panther Party member Tareka Lewis; and African American Sports and Entertainment Group President Ray Bobbitt.

By Carla Thomas

More than 75 people gathered at Youth UpRising in East Oakland on Friday, Sept. 18, for Coliseum 60, a celebration honoring six decades of sports, entertainment, employment and community memories connected to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex.

Held 60 years to the day after the Coliseum opened, the event carried the theme, “One Community. One Legacy. One Future. Forward Together.”

The celebration opened with the national anthem performed by sisters Anese Jade, Amina Benjamin and Zaza Benjamin. Diamano Coura West African Dance Company contributed African dance and drumming, bringing movement, rhythm and cultural expression to the program.

A mini documentary highlighted the Coliseum’s sports history and its broader role as an entertainment destination. Archival material recalled performances by Prince and Tina Turner, along with memorable games featuring the Warriors, Oakland A’s and Raiders.

“The Coliseum 60 is about much more than celebrating a building or looking back at 60 years of history,” said event organizer Quixote Atkins of VillageGIVE.

“It’s about the people who made that history possible: the families, workers, athletes, artists, community leaders, fans and generations who gathered there and created memories together.”

A panel exploring that history featured author, historian and former Black Panther Party member Tareka Lewis; stagehand and union representative Keith Brown; and Ray Bobbitt, president of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group AASEG. Lewis described her family as fourth-generation Bay Area pioneers.

“My family and Black families who arrived even earlier helped build the Bay Area, grew businesses and established culture here,” Lewis said. “This should be taught in the public schools.”

Lewis recalled Oakland’s influence on sports, music and literature, from the Raiders’ beginnings at Laney College to stars such as The Pointer Sisters and Rickey Henderson who attended Oakland public schools. She also advocated for school museums, historical timelines, entrepreneurship training and investments benefiting corridors such as Bancroft Avenue and High Street.

Keith Brown, a member of Local 107 of the International Alliance of Theater and Stage Employees (IATSE) who began working at the Coliseum in 2011, remembered the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Ice Capades, baseball bat giveaways and Nelson Mandela’s 1990 appearance.

“The special events are amazing, but it’s the workers that make the memories real for everyone,” Brown said. “They make the magic happen at the Coliseum.”

The program recognized longtime workers, including beer-stand manager Robert Preston, who served for 40 years, and Kenyatta Gentry, who worked as a vendor for 24 years and used her earnings to purchase her first apartment. Union workers Jose Gonzales and Carmen Sandoval were also honored. Speakers emphasized that Coliseum employment provided generations of residents with union wages and benefits.

Dr. Denise Saddler, the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) was also honored. Saddler shared her family’s history of working at the Coliseum.

District 7 Oakland City Councilmember Ken Houston discussed the complex ownership arrangements involving the city, county and private interests.

“This was the most complex deal of its kind in the country,” Houston said.

Prior to moving from the East Coast, Alameda County Supervisor and Coliseum Joint Powers Authority Chair Nate Miley recalled learning about Oakland through its three professional sports teams. As an elected official and public servant, Miley fought hard to keep the Golden State Warriors, Oakland As, and the Raiders, but he is hopeful for the future.

“The story is not over for the Coliseum,” Miley said. “We’re entering a new chapter.”

Bobbitt said the departure of three teams had once seemed unimaginable, but he maintained that Oakland’s future remains bright.

“Oakland is a cultural superpower worldwide,” Bobbitt said. “We’re going to write the future where we participate and drive the redevelopment.”

Bobbitt highlighted AASEG’s four-year partnership with Castlemont High School’s architecture program, which engages students in reimagining and creating redevelopment concepts for the Coliseum property. “The youth will always move us forward. They are the future.”

In closing, Atkins said, “September 18 is the celebration, but what we build together afterward is the legacy.”