The Last 2 Networks Airing Bill Cosby's Shows Have Now Pulled Them
As news broke that Bill Cosby had admitted to supplying drugs to young
women he intended to have sex with, two more networks are severing ties
with him.
Bounce announced today that it will stop airing Cosby—a sitcom that
aired on CBS from 1996 to 2000—"effective immediately." The network had
no further comment.
Formerly known as BET Jazz, Centric aired three episodes of The Cosby
Show each day as part of a lineup that includes Family Matters and The
Steve Harvey Show. The network, available in 51 million homes, had
previously scheduled two Cosby Show marathons this weekend, with nine
episodes airing Saturday starting at 10 a.m. ET and six episodes set for
Sunday.
Bounce, aimed at African Americans, is an ad-supported channel
available for free on the digital broadcast signals of local television
stations around the country. The network aired Cosby weekdays at 5 p.m.
and 5:30 p.m., alongside shows like The Bernie Mac Show, The Hughleys,
Roc and A Different World.
Cosby was not airing on Bounce last fall when dozens of women stepped
forward to accuse Cosby of sexual assault over the past several decades.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported
it obtained documents revealing Cosby testified in 2005 that he got
Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to
have sex with, and he admitted giving the sedative to at least one woman
and "other people."
Last November, as the shocking sexual assault allegations continued to mount, several outlets cut ties with the suddenly radioactive comedian,
including NBC (which had been developing a new sitcom with him),
Netflix (which was set to debut a standup special during Thanksgiving)
and TV Land (which pulled Cosby Show reruns from its lineup).
But at the time, Centric and Aspire—a Magic Johnson-owned cable network—said they would continue to air their respective Cosby series.
Aspire reversed course a couple weeks later, removing both The Bill
Cosby Show (which ran from 1969 to 1971) and I Spy (1965 to 1968) from
its schedule on Dec. 12.
Bounce and Centric aren't the only networks to have had a change of
heart regarding Cosby. Singer Jill Scott, one of the few celebrities to
stand by Cosby last fall, reversed her stance Monday in light of Cosby's
testimony, tweeting, "I stood by a man I respected and loved. I was wrong."
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