NBC Cancels Planned Bill Cosby Comedy - East Idaho News
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NBC Cancels Planned Bill Cosby Comedy

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GETTY 111914 BCosby?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1416429556981Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Following the news that Netflix had postponed its plans to air a Bill Cosby comedy special, NBC now says that a comedy it was developing around the veteran comedian won’t be moving forward, ABC News confirms.

The project was a family comedy that would have cast Cosby as the father of three married daughters with children.

The cancellation comes after allegations of rape against the comedian resurfaced in recent weeks.

A series of women have claimed to have been sexually abused by Cosby over the years, including Joan Tarshis, who came forward on Sunday. Last week, Barbara Bowman published an essay in the Washington Post detailing her own alleged abuse at the hands of Cosby, and later told the Hollywood Reporter that she felt NBC would be “irresponsible” to put Cosby “back in a position of a patriarchal father, in an authoritative and trusted position.”

Cosby’s attorney, John P. Schmitt, issued a statement earlier in the week, calling the rape allegations “decades-old” and “discredited.” Schmitt later issued a second statement saying the comedian’s denial “was not intended to refer in any way to Andrea Constand,” an accuser who settled a civil lawsuit against the 77-year-old comedy legend in 2006.

The comedian’s rep told ABC News that Cosby agreed with Netflix’s decision to postpone the special, which would have aired on Nov. 28.

Cosby himself has not responded to the allegations. He has never been criminally charged.


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