From hero to zero: the destruction of an untouchable reputation

There was a time, long - long ago, where every little boy or girl wished that William Henry Cosby (better known as "Bill") was his or her grandfather. The beloved, knitted sweater wearing, funny old man flourished in TV-shows like the Cosby show or Fat Albert. However, over the past decade, the reputation of this selfmade television-star was devastated by numerous accusations of sexual abuse. However, the destruction of Cosby's reputation took more than fifteen years,. How can an individual have a reputation that seems so unimpeachable and how did the women act in bringing down mr. Cosby? 

Today Dutch media reported about Bill Cosby being interrogated for seven hours long about the allegations concerning sexual abuse. This long-lasting interrogation was the first since the accusations towards the 78 year old stand-up comedian started trickling in. The first time Bill was the subject of publicized sexual assault accusations was in 2000. As of that year, more than fifty women accused mr. Cosby of rape or other sexual activities against womens will. Until this moment, Cosby holds on to being innocent, and he has not been convicted for any crime yet. As his reputation protected him from women accusing him for the crimes for a long time, the women needed to take collective action to bring this childhood hero down.

The allegations have been piling up for the past years, and more and more people joined the 'anti-Cosby' movement. However, the individual allegations were never strong enough to bring mr. Cosby down. Things changed a few months ago, when 35 women that claimed being molested or raped by Bill started a PR-campaign against Cosby titled 'I'm no longer affraid'. A picture of the 35 women sitting in chairs was printed on the cover of the New York magazine. In addition, the magazine covered all of their stories. With the campaign, the women emphasize the reputation of Cosby by stating that they were really affraid of accusing him. In the picture, the dates of the alleged rape was printed below the women, and an additional 'empty' chair was added representing all the women that were still afraid, and did not yet stand up against Bill.

The 'I'm no longer afraid' campaign where 35 women publicly accuse Cosby of sexual abuse.

The power of Cosby's reputation really intrigued me, as it took fifteen years for the accusations to build up to a certain strength that could maybe lead to his conviction. It even needed a collective PR-campaign to do the trick. To anyone it might seem a done deal: being accused by over 45 women probably means that you are guilty. However, when the first batch of accusations came in the news back in 2005, they actually quickly faded from the media as Cosby denied. No one wanted to believe that their huggable and funny TV-granddad was guilty of such horrible acts. In addition, a magazine in the US had planned to cover one of the women's testimonials about Cosby in 2005, but they actually pulled it when Bill agreed with a two-page exclusive interview telling his side of the story. In the interview, Cosby stated that there were certain misinterpretations, and that he still is an innocent man.

A testimonial of Barbara Bowman, covered in New York magazine (full story here)

We have to take into account that reputation can - to a certain extent - protect any person, organization or political party from serious accusations. Especially individuals that are considered as childhood heroes, have an almost unviolable immunity for negative allegations. However, the case of the anti-Cosby PR-campaign shows that the collective power of the victims of mr. Cosby did eventually become effective in bringing the man down. Chances are that Cosby will eventually be charged with serious crimes, disappearing behind bars for potentially the rest of his life. Obviously, this is what he deserves. But hey, I still enjoy watching 'the kid's say the darndest things'. How about you?

    Can you imagine? 

- André Duijkers