Bill Cosby Scandal: Netflix postpones Cosby's stand-up comedy special following rape allegations
Netflix Inc. has backtracked on plans to run a comedy special starring Bill Cosby following new rape allegations against the comedian and actor.
"At this time we are postponing the launch of the new stand-up comedy special 'Bill Cosby 77,'" Netflix said today in an e-mailed statement. The stand-up performance by the comedian was scheduled to go live on Nov. 28, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
Allegations that Cosby, 77, drugged and sexually assaulted several young women decades ago gained renewed attention after comedian Hannibal Buress called him a rapist during a stand-up comedy routine last month.
Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any case, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.
The move came within hours of an interview that "Entertainment Tonight" aired with Janice Dickinson, in which the model and TV host alleged that Cosby sexually assaulted her after a 1982 hotel dinner meeting in Lake Tahoe, California.
"Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced," said John P. Schmitt, Cosby's attorney, in a statement. "The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true."
Neither Cosby nor his representatives will comment further on the allegations, Schmitt added."
Cosby is best known for playing Cliff Huxtable, the father of an affluent black family on the TV sitcom "The Cosby Show" that was a top-ranked program from 1984 to 1992, making Cosby a wealthy man.
