Entertainment

Bill Cosby Returns to Stage for 1st Time Since November

Published

9 years ago

January 7, 2015

In this Nov. 21, 2014 file photo, comedian Bill Cosby performs during a show at the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Fla. Los Angeles prosecutors have declined to file any charges against Cosby after a woman recently reported the comedian molested her around 1974. The rejection of a child sexual abuse charge by prosecutors on Tuesday comes roughly 10 days after the woman, Judy Huth, met with police detectives. The Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office rejected filing a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child under the age of 18 because the statute of limitations had passed. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

In this Nov. 21, 2014 file photo, comedian Bill Cosby performs during a show at the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

ROB GILLIES, Associated Press

KITCHENER, Ontario (AP) — A scandal-plagued Bill Cosby returns to the stage Wednesday night for the first time since November, with some ticket-holders vowing not to show up and others saying they will heckle the comedian.

The three performances in Canada’s Ontario province follow sexual assault allegations by more than 15 women and come after Cosby saw at least 10 performances get canceled on his North American tour.

The 77-year-old comedian is scheduled to appear at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener on Wednesday; at the Budweiser Gardens in London on Thursday; and at the Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton on Friday.

“I don’t know how people in good conscience can go and enjoy the show,” said Maureen Dragasevich.

Dragasevich, 59, said she and her family bought tickets and were once huge fans, but they’re not going now.

Since November, at least 15 women have come forward with claims Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago. Most of the women say he drugged them before he assaulted them.

Cosby, who starred as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992, earning a reputation as “America’s Dad,” has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations. A 2005 lawsuit by a Pennsylvania woman was settled before it went to trial, and he is being sued by a woman who claims he molested her in 1974 and by three other women who allege they were defamed by the comedian when his representatives denied some of the allegations.

Cosby’s career unraveled after his accusers came forward, with a TV project halted and at least 10 standup comedy tour performances canceled or indefinitely postponed. The show in Kitchener will be his first show since Nov. 21 in Melbourne, Florida, where Cosby was greeted by an adoring audience that laughed so hard they slapped their knees, shouted love at the stage and rose to their feet as he came and went. Protesters didn’t show and there were no hecklers.

Protests are planned in Canada, however. Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, said there will be a demonstration outside the London venue, and was told some ticket holders who couldn’t get a refund will heckle Cosby instead.

Kitchener’s mayor, Berry Vrbanovic, said he will attend an alternative event that was organized to raise awareness of sexual assault at the same time as Cosby’s show. The mayor said he hopes people will not heckle Cosby inside the venue, however.

“It’s important that people respect those who have decided to go and attend the show and their right to attend a show they have paid for,” Vrbanovic said.

Katie Gosen, who organized the protest event, said she wanted the community to have a voice and for Cosby to know he’s not welcome.

“He’s meeting opposition everywhere he goes and that’s a testament to how bad his actions are,” Gosen said

London Mayor Matt Brown said the promoter should consider canceling the London show and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said she wouldn’t attend any of Cosby’s shows in the province because of the “very serious” allegations.

“Until those are sorted out I certainly would not go to a performance,” Wynne said.

Cosby’s promoter, Adam Epstein of Chicago-based Innovation Arts & Entertainment, said he is legally obligated to move ahead with the shows in Canada, and said it would send the wrong message to other artists if he canceled.

“If the allegations are true, of course I find them abhorrent, but at the same time at this point I find it presumptuous for anyone to expect me to take action and break an agreement with another business client at this stage,” Epstein said. “What if it is not true? If there’s an indictment and conviction that’s one thing.”

Scott Warren, the general manager of the Hamilton Place Theatre, said the theater is bound by a contract with the promoter and would risk being sued if the show were canceled.

Don Jones, who has promoted Cosby shows in London previously, estimated the promoter is on the hook for half a million dollars for the three shows.

“That’s a lot of money to lose if you decide to cancel. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place,” Jones said. “To be honest I’m amazed Cosby hasn’t canceled just for the embarrassment part of it.”

But Jones said Cosby probably has his reasons.

“He’s 77 years old. I’ve heard that there’s about 17 shows left in the schedule. I’m sure he realizes that it’s over. I can’t imagine any venue buying a Cosby show in the future,” Jones said.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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April 19, 2024

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O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.

Published

7 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson. Wikipedia photo

By Post Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.

At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.

Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).

He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”

The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.

It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.

He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.

He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.

The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.

Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.

Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.

In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.

When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.

Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.

“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.

“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”

“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.

“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”

Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.

He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.

Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.