After months of silence, Camille Cosby is speaking out in support of her husband, Bill Cosby, amidst the sexual assault allegations that have been swirling against him. And in her statement she compares her husband’s public troubles to the furor over a recent college campus rape story and discrepancies surrounding that.
The statement in full is below:
“I met my husband, Bill Cosby, in 1963, and we were married in 1974. The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew.
A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral.
We all followed the story of the article in the ‘Rolling Stone’ concerning allegations of rape at the University of Virginia. The story was heart-breaking, but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband–until that story unwound.
None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked — who is the victim?”
For the most part, the couple has remained silent throughout the whole saga, though Bill is steadily being stripped of his honors accumulated through the years. He spoke briefly to New York Post‘s Page Six last weekend and said that he expected Black media outlets to remain neutral.
“Let me say this: I only expect the Black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism, and when you do that, you have to go in with a neutral mind,” he said.