Ahead of his June 5th trial, Bill Cosby’s daughter has penned a statement defending her father and maligning his supposedly unfair treatment by the press, public and his accusers.
For Black Press USA—a online site for a group black newspapers under the National Newspaper Publishers Association—Evin Cosby argues her father “loves and respects women” and hopes the claims against him will be dismissed in court.
Evin isn’t the first woman in her family to stand by Cosby, but the logic employed in her essay is no better than past defenses of him and is obviously far from impartial. I don’t disagree with her recollection of an idyllic childhood and the success of a loving father—I’m sure he was great to her. Still, that obviously in no way negates the allegations of the more than 50 women who have accused him of misconduct.
Evin argues:
We are told that we have fundamental rights to be innocent until proven guilty. But, if enough people think you are a bad person, you are branded a bad person and the media just reinforces that.
My dad, like anyone in this country, deserves to be treated fairly under the law. My dad broke barriers and raised the conscious of America on important topics, especially for the advancement of women.
Of course, that exact right is why her father isn’t currently in prison. It’s why he’s getting a trial. But the court of public opinion doesn’t play by the same rules. Cosby isn’t the first, and he certainly won’t be the last, to be judged (off the seemingly overwhelming evidence against him) by the larger public before he’s had his day in court.
Evin paints her father has a wholesome, Heathcliff-esque family man as she tries to garner our sympathy.
The public persecution of my dad, my kids’ grandfather, and the cruelty of the media and those who speak out branding my father a “rapist” without ever knowing the truth and who shame our family and our friends for defending my dad, makes all of this so much worse for my family and my children.
It’s terrible that his family members have to go through this humiliation and pain but Cosby is the only one to blame for their suffering.
At one point, Evin seems to suggest her father’s public downfall was worse—or at least comparable to—the murder of her brother.
When people are so quick to cast hate, and make accusations of horrific violence against my dad, they are callous in their carelessness about the harm they are causing to others. I thought when my brother Ennis was murdered, that was the worst nightmare of all time.
In another boldfaced attempt to garner sympathy, Black Press USA also published an interview with Bill Cosby and his publicist that tells us nothing beyond confirming the fact that he’s blind—something we already knew—and entertains his delusional dreams of performing again one day unburned by the allegations. (The two said they chose the outlet because they thought the “NNPA Newswire would be more interested in ‘facts over sensationalism’” than other news organizations)
“Darn right,” he said, when asked if he missed performing. “I miss it all and I hope that day will come. I have some routines and storytelling that I am working on.
Cosby continued: “I think about walking out on stage somewhere in the United States of America and sitting down in a chair and giving the performance that will be the beginning of the next chapter of my career.”
Evin echoes a similar hope for this to all end peacefully for Cosby in her statement:
I am pleased that finally we are seeing the whole picture and seeing cases and claims dismissed from court. I just hope that those who pre-judged my dad are now willing to admit that they were wrong.
Of course, even if he isn’t found guilty, it doesn’t mean those women weren’t assaulted by Cosby, as we know how infrequently sexual assault victims find justice under the law. Additionally, I imagine there’s little, if anything, that could undo the tarnish this has all done to Bill Cosby’s legacy.
Jury selection for the trial begins on May 22 in Pittsburgh. Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. If convicted, each charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.