Ebner vs. Cosby

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Hollywood Interrupted's Mark Ebner is claiming that People magazine "recently buried" a rare investigative piece featuring shocking interviews with three women claiming that Bill Cosby "earned their trust, then sexually assaulted them," but because the story was hidden in all the fluff that drives celebrity magazine sales, Cosby-as-serial sexual-abuser is still essentially a non-story."

The ever-dogged Ebner, who dug into Cosby's history while working for the Bonnie Fuller tabs, goes on to make his case that Cosby has been drugging and in some cases having his way with women for a fairly long time. I usually stay far away from stories of this kind, but I happen to be personally acquainted with a woman who told me (and eventually Ebner, whom I introduced her to) that she had an unwanted (i.e. forced) sexual encounter with Cosby in '69. And I believe her.

The interesting thing here is how and why People bailed on this story, if in fact this happened. (I've inquired with a friend in People's West Coast office; maybe I'll hear something back.) Cosby doesn't even turn up when you do a search on their site.

Prior to Ebner's story the strongest Cosby impression I've had over the last few years has been Jack Black's put-down of a sweater John Cusack wears in the first 20 minutes of High Fidelity: "It's a Cosby sweater...a Cosby sweater!"

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 3, 2007 at 7:51 AM

comment #1

vansmith says ...

are money and sex the only rewards for stardom, if so why not just pay for sex, why the abuse, why risk rape charges and lawsuits, or is it he said she said. jello man is married isn't he??

Posted by vansmith at January 3, 2007 8:42 AM

comment #2

BulkingtonLives23 says ...

Don't pay any attention to anything Mark Ebner says. He's a goddamn dirty liar. If I ever met him, I'd punch him in the face for the chapter he wrote about Crossroads School in Hollywood Interrupted.
Every time his name is mentioned on this blog I die a little inside.

Posted by BulkingtonLives23 at January 3, 2007 8:48 AM

comment #3

T. S. Idiot says ...

Not to make light of a serious issue, but I once saw Bill put his arm around a redcap in Penn Station.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at January 3, 2007 8:51 AM

comment #4

erniesouchak says ...

Of course People would bury a story like this! What do they stand to gain from it?

Posted by erniesouchak at January 3, 2007 8:57 AM

comment #5

MoisesChiu says ...

On a completely extraneous sidenote, the Broadway musical version of High Fidelity announced its closing within its opening week.

Posted by MoisesChiu at January 3, 2007 9:21 AM

comment #6

Mark says ...

1969? Bill Cosby? Both ancient history.

Posted by Mark at January 3, 2007 9:36 AM

comment #7

MarkEbner says ...

Every time his name is mentioned on this blog I die a little inside.

Posted by: BulkingtonLives23 at January 3, 2007 08:48 AM>>

My door is always open.

- Ebner

Posted by MarkEbner at January 3, 2007 9:49 AM

comment #8

ColeRich says ...

Glad someone is picking this up. If the MSM isn't going to do their job then the internet has to pick up the slack.

Posted by ColeRich at January 3, 2007 9:50 AM

comment #9

christian says ...

sadly i grew up worshipping the cos and even did line for line imitations of his stand up for my 4th grade class. i always thought he had a great message and the murder of his son was horrifying.

also sadly, i've heard stories from good female friends who've worked with him that he's quite the sexist.

Posted by christian at January 3, 2007 9:52 AM

comment #10

JD says ...

Over the years, Bill Cosby has made a habit of publicly critiquing anything and everything that falls short of his Cosby Show-inspired vision of family values (I vaguely remember seeing him condemn The Osbournes, for example). I hate to invoke the notorious "thou dost protest too much," but from Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, Bill O'Reilley, Laura Schlessinger, and Rudy Giuliani to the entire leadership of the Catholic Church, those who actively crusade for family values invariably have heavy duty skeletons in their own closets. It's almost reached the point where people talk about family values solely as an act of restitution, a kind of court-ordered community service of their guilty consciences.

Posted by JD at January 3, 2007 10:10 AM

comment #11

lesterg says ...

I've been a fan since I was a kid, but even I have to admit that these accounts are all a little too similar to be discounted. There's definately a pattern.

As a result, I now have a horrible mental image of Cosby trying to incorporate this into his stand-up by imitating both a sleeping woman and himself trying to fondle her (mugging all the way).

Posted by lesterg at January 3, 2007 10:48 AM

comment #12