Guardian: Tabloid Ditched Damning Cosby Probe In 2005 After Lawyer Threat
[su_right_ad]The National Enquirer scuttled an investigation into Bill Cosby’s sexual behavior in 2005 after pressure from his attorney, reports The Guardian.
[The paper trashed] a groundbreaking investigation it had conducted into his alleged sexual misconduct and replacing it with a celebrity interview in which the comic dismissed the claims as money-motivated “misinterpretations”, the Guardian has learned.
The National Enquirer’s investigation was carried out in 2005, just weeks after it first emerged that Cosby had been accused of drugging and molesting a female friend, Andrea Constand. The tabloid magazine dispatched its senior reporter Robin Mizrahi to look into the story.
[su_r_sky_ad]Mizrahi made contact with a second woman, Beth Ferrier, who alleged that she too had been drugged and sexually molested by the entertainer. The Enquirer brought Ferrier to Los Angeles from her home in Denver, where she was then working as a model, and Mizrahi interviewed her and arranged for her to undergo a lie detector test.
“She passed the polygraph test with flying colors,” Mizrahi told the Guardian. “She had a very, very detailed description of what allegedly happened which I still remember because it was so haunting. She said Cosby had stood over her and then she fell asleep because there was something in her coffee.”…
The Enquirer’s decision to switch its own investigation with a soft-soap interview was reported by Mark Ebner in the Daily Beast this week.
In the Enquirer’s ensuing front-page “exclusive”, Cosby, then 67, was allowed to present his rebuttal of the sexual assault allegations that had only just started to dog him. He argued that “words and actions can be misinterpreted by another person,” adding that “I’m not saying that what I did was wrong, but I apologize to my loving wife … These allegations have caused my family great emotional stress.”
M D Reese November 22nd, 2014 at 6:06 pm
I have a feeling that he will be retiring to spend more time with his family and to write his memoirs…
Suzanne McFly November 22nd, 2014 at 7:39 pm
I hope no one buys them.
Anomaly 100 November 22nd, 2014 at 6:09 pm
Time for some Bill Cosby memes again.
M D Reese November 23rd, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Just curious–is that an old one or a new one?
Anomaly 100 November 23rd, 2014 at 6:32 pm
I didn’t make it. I stole it:-)
Carla Akins November 22nd, 2014 at 6:38 pm
LIke a lot of people, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, that’s no longer an option.
Suzanne McFly November 22nd, 2014 at 7:39 pm
One, two, maybe three, but he is moving close to 20 and they all are claiming similar circumstances, drugs and unwanted sex. I don’t feel anything for him at this point, he dug his own grave.
Carla Akins November 22nd, 2014 at 8:12 pm
I agree, a few may have been looking for a payday but at this point, seriously?
Robert M. Snyder November 22nd, 2014 at 11:24 pm
Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing. But a few things bother me.
1. Some of these allegations date back to the sixties. Were date rape drugs available back then? If so, what kind and what were their effects?
2. Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, and every male rock musician that ever lived had no trouble finding willing partners. I’m having trouble understanding the motive to drug these women. Surely there must have been many women who would have willingly engaged in consensual sex with BC. Necrophilia maybe?
3. One of the alleged victims (Tarshis) said “He made me give him oral sex.”. She claimed that she had been knocked out by a couple of drinks and was “foggy”. She also said she tried to talk him out of having sex with her by claiming to have a genital infection. So I can’t help wondering how someone who is alert enough to make up a story and actually perform oral sex is somehow incapable of saying ‘no’. What did she stand to lose by saying no? Perhaps a career boost? How do you ‘make’ someone give you oral sex? Nobody said anything about the threat of physical force.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 6:03 am
First and absolutely foremost; sex has nothing to do with rape. Other than the mechanics of the assault, it in no way resembles sex. Rape is about power – forcing someone to do something against their will either through force or intimidation.
Wilt and other like him had a ton of sex with groupies. Those enamored of a person’s fame. This is actually consensual sex – probably a poor decision but consensual.
Those like Cosby are not interested in sex, they are interested in forcing their will on to someone that wouldn’t ordinarily agree or submit. It’s more than just domination – the intent is to belittle, subjugate and crush a person’s sense of worth. It’s accomplished through forced sex. Oral sex is forced through intimidation, you may not understand how that happens, but that’s because no one has ever treated you in such a manner. This is a good thing, but most women I know are not so lucky.
Although Mescalin and peyote could have been used, the most likely culprit was a form of blotter acid that was easily obtained and incredibly cheap – this according to my Mom to spent the 70’s exploring Cosmo’s idea of female freedom. Let’s just say Mom is a credible source of sex in the 70’s.
mmaynard119 November 22nd, 2014 at 9:26 pm
In the truth is stranger than fiction: RWNJ Kirk Cameron has come out saying that Cosby molested him.
Kick Frenzy November 23rd, 2014 at 1:35 am
I’m only seeing that reported on one site, the same one that mistakenly reported that Raven Symone had filed charges,
whatthe46 November 23rd, 2014 at 2:13 am
nah huh. are you serious?
Kick Frenzy November 23rd, 2014 at 9:12 am
Yup.
Please post a link if you have one from a site other than celebricity.com.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 2:06 pm
I don’t care. Many, many men spend their lives refraining from assaulting women. There is no excuse. Period. Biological instincts have to do with procreation and mating. Rape is not about these things – it’s only about domination, aggression and oppression. As a woman that’s been raped, I can assure you that men that engage in this behavior not driven by a biological need just their sociopathic need.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 2:41 pm
“Biological instincts have to do with procreation and mating. Rape is not about these things – it’s only about domination, aggression and oppression”
There is a common misconception that “natural” is always “good”. But when we look at the natural behavior of other primates, we see domination and aggression. We share a lot of DNA with those primates. We have all kinds of biological instincts. Some of them are not so good. I don’t see people as being “good” and “evil”. I see people as being “in control” and “out of control”. I believe in holding people accountable for their out-of-control behaviors, but I also believe in providing people, especially young people, with the skills that can help them to live lives that are in control and not out of control. So yes, punish the rapist. But let’s also try to understand the factors that led up to that point so we can better help young men to become gentlemen instead of jerks. We don’t help them by denying the existence of the natural instincts and urges that they feel. It is natural, when we are really aggravated by another person, to want to strike that person. People on this forum have expressed that feeling with regard to Sarah Palin and others. The issue is how to deal with these urges. It is not okay to punch a woman. But in the heat of the moment, people lose control. There is no silver bullet solution, but good parenting is clearly a key factor affecting which young men grow up to be rapists and abusers, and which ones grow up to be gentlemen.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 4:09 pm
You keep mentioning this natural urge – I’m assuming you mean the urge for sex. Hence my point, it’s not about sex it’s about control over another person. Rape and sexual assault is never about sex. There is no way I can make my point any stronger. Not about sex.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 5:22 pm
I’m talking about urges or instincts of all types.
Did you read the article about chimpanzee aggression? Nobody had to teach those male chimps to be aggressive toward females. When we see that behavior in other species, we say that it is natural. When we see similar behavior in humans, many people would classify it as unnatural. That’s probably the basis of our disagreement. I am open to the idea that some very negative behaviors are perfectly natural. I do not equate “natural” with “good”.
I think that sexual aggression and nonsexual aggression are all part of our evolutional inheritance. I don’t think they are neatly compartmentalized into two different regions of the brain. When a male chimpanzee is displaying aggressive mating behaviors, the aggression and the sex are part of a single behavior pattern.
I don’t think you can look at a person, or any animal, and say “At this moment they’re feeling aggressive” or “At this moment they are acting on a sexual urge”. Feelings and emotions are not that neatly compartmentalized. Words like “aggression” and “sexuality” are just labels that we used to classify things. A person can be joyful and sad at the same time. The dimensions of human experience are not mutually exclusive.
Again, I am NOT trying to justify rape or domestic abuse. I want people to be held accountable for their actions.
The conventional wisdom is that every child is born innocent and social influences corrupt them. I disagree. I believe that every child is born with a brain that will, over their lifetime, experience a wide range of feelings and urges, some of which can get them into big trouble. People used to say “Do what comes naturally”. That is terrible advice for a young man with raging testosterone levels. Being a gentleman is all about NOT doing what comes naturally. It’s about being something MORE than nature itself would make you.
The best thing that can happen to a young man is to have a father who is kind and loving and attentive to his mother, thereby demonstrating to the boy that he doesn’t have to be a captive of his instincts.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 6:24 pm
You don’t get it. I have no further way to explain it and it has nothing to do with any natural urge. Regardless, we are not animals, we’ve evolved and most can “resist” the urge to physically attack another human human being in an effort to dominate and subjugate another person. The moment you assign a chimps urge to a human – you are excusing the human behavior. It’s the same behavior as slut/victim shaming. You cannot give give an inch – human’s are responsible for their own behavior, period.
Anomaly 100 November 23rd, 2014 at 6:31 pm
I take it Robert is admitting a little something something to us. I don’t know any men who have had the urge to rape. Perhaps Robert has experienced this violent ‘urge.’
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 8:03 pm
I have never had the urge to rape anyone.
On one occasion, when I was a lonely college student who couldn’t get a date, two young men were walking toward me on the sidewalk with an attractive young woman between them. They were all laughing. For a very brief instant, I had the urge to punch the woman. The urge came, and then it quickly left. I never forgot it, because it scared the crap out of me.
If I had acted on that urge, I would have deserved punishment. Biology is no excuse. We are all responsible for our actions.
I do not cultivate or nurture negative thoughts and emotions. But on rare occasions, unsettling thoughts pop into my head. I have talked to other guys, and they all have had similar experiences.
Our sophisticated neocortex is built upon a reptilian brainstem. Just because someone intellectually embraces a concept such as love and compassion, that doesn’t mean that they will never have an ugly thought. I’m sure that Mother Teresa had her demons.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 8:26 pm
Are you saying that biology and evolution can provide no insight into the phenomena of rape and abuse?
I do not agree that to explore a biological basis for rape in any way excuses the behavior.
It is widely accepted that there is a biological/evolutionary basis for why people are tempted to have sex outside of marriage. I don’t consider that a valid excuse. I completely agree that people are responsible for their behaviors. But humans are part of the animal kingdom. We share many traits with other mammals, and especially with primates. Humans do not operate outside the realm of biology and evolution. Our brains were shaped by evolution. Rape and abuse have occurred in virtually every civilization at virtually every point in recorded history. A scientist visiting from a distant planet would probably conclude that these behaviors were “natural” for humans, just as human scientists say that sexual aggression is “natural” for chimpanzees. The word “natural” may mean something different to you. I am using it in the scientific sense to mean a behavior which is commonly found in a species. Rape, spousal abuse, murder, and child abuse are all commonly found in our species. That does not make them “good”. But it does suggest that there is a biological/evolutionary basis. That doesn’t excuse rape any more than it excuses murder.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Again: “It is widely accepted that there is a biological/evolutionary basis for why people are tempted to have sex outside of marriage.”
You’re speaking of sex. Rape has nothing to do with sex. How difficult is that to understand? It is simply the mechanics of the act of domination and control. It would be the same if he was using a gun or baseball bat in order to inspire fear.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 9:23 pm
If a man rapes another man in prison, is that simply an act of domination and control? Or could it have something to do with the fact that he wants to climax and a human orifice feels better than his own right hand?
When a man locks a woman in his basement for ten years, that is clearly an act of domination and control. But many rapists want nothing more to do with their victims ten seconds after they have climaxed. They only dominate and control them until a sexual climax has occurred.
To say that rape has nothing to do with sex defies common sense.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 10:00 pm
The answer to your first question is YES.
http://www.mnsu.edu/varp/assault/myths.html
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/29/rape-about-power-not-sex
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 10:14 pm
Only if you’re anti-science.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/ben-atwood/2012/06/what-primates-teach-us-about-being-human/
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 10:16 pm
Fine. Believe whatever you choose, I truly hope that you or no one you love ever has the opportunity to prove you wrong. I know very little for certain in my life, but this is one.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 10:33 pm
What is the practical difference? If a loved one of mine is raped, my instinct would be to find that person and beat them to a pulp. If you think that I am trying to excuse rape, I don’t know how to make it any clearer. Rape is a crime. Always. It should be severely punished. Always. There are no excuses.
We seem to be debating what motivates rapists. From a legal standpoint, I don’t care. I completely agree that a woman’s manner of dress, for example, is never an invitation to rape.
Saying that all rape is about control and not sex is like saying that all muggings are about control and not money. If a man stops me on the street and demands my wallet, and then immediately leaves, it was about “money” and he used control as a means to an end. If a man attacks me on the street and beats me to a pulp, and then takes my wallet, it was about power and control, and not really about money. Either way, the mugger is responsible for his actions.
Carla Akins November 23rd, 2014 at 10:43 pm
The difference is how you approach fixing the issue.
Robert M. Snyder November 23rd, 2014 at 10:58 pm
I’m all ears. Seriously. I read the two articles you linked. I will read anything else you wish to post. I do think about the points you are making, and I am trying to understand your point of view. When you said that I don’t get it, you were correct. I don’t get it. I am sure that many rapes are only about control, and of course control is an element of every rape. I’m having trouble with the blanket statement that sex is never part of the motivation.