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Bill Cosby just spoke out for the first time since being convicted early 2018. The interview was conducted over the phone with Stacy Brown of the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com. The 45 minute interview was challenging as there’s a rule against calls over 15 minutes and with the number of prison announcements made while he was on the phone, he had to call back multiple times to complete it. For starters, Brown described himself as a supporter and said his site speaks for other Cosby supporters.
Despite being 82 with another 8 years left of his sentence, it’s likely he’s going to serve the entire sentence as he has shown no remorse for his any of his life’s actions. He’s even said as much. “I have eight years and nine months left,” Cosby said, according to Brown and Wyatt. “When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse.” He even considers himself a “political prisoner.” There is, however a bit of relevance to what he’s saying, given that he’s the first celebrity conviction of the #MeToo era which means his trial was representative of all of the men in Hollywood who have taken advantage of women and those types of cases have more to do with making a statement than the actual facts.
He’s been doubling down on everything including his 2004 “pound cake” speech where he criticized behaviors of African Americans he disapproves of. He did, however say he wishes he had not suggested that his criticisms went for “all” African Americans. “The mistake I made (in 2004) is making it sound like all the people were making the infractions, and that’s not true,” he could be heard saying. And he’s still the same ol’ Bill Cosby. He’s been holding “Mann Up” speaking sessions on helping other prisoners be the best that they can be, teaching dignity, self-respect and putting family first. He said, “I’m not a psychiatrist, and I’m not a psychologist. I’m an educator, and what I look forward to is talking to this group of 400 or so men.”
Another point that Cosby made was the demonization of his show over the years. “When ‘The Cosby Show’ came on with the Huxtables … while it was running, other networks and even the media were doing jobs on trying to belittle whatever it represented,” Cosby said. “They did not like what ‘The Cosby Show’ looked like for us. … Now, look at what has happened. They’ve taken everything that I’ve done and swept it into a place where it would not be shown.” One important distinction that should be made is the difference in his personal character and artistry. In the end, the Cosby Show was a very important thing for the black community and axing it just to punish Cosby was a mistake.
If Cosby is anything, he’s consistent and if he feels as strongly as he does about his truth, and enough to remain in prison to keep from admitting to something he says he didn’t do, then more power to him.
