Judd Apatow Explains His Bill Cosby Comments

Famed director/producer/writer Judd Apatow has been vocal about the allegations against Bill Cosby for some time now, openly calling out the comedian on Twitter and supporting the numerous women who have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them. On the Today show on Monday, Judd Apatow spoke about Bill Cosby again, and explained why he refuses to stay silent.

Chatting with Willie Geist, Apatow revealed just why he's supporting the accusers and publicly speaking out against Cosby, and it's all pretty simple:

I just noticed that no one else was saying that this was a bad thing. I would've loved to not talk about it. It's incredibly sad. It's one of the most tragic things that's happened in our business. I think we do have to stand up for the women and say, "We believe you."

The 47-year-old gave plenty of straight talk during the interview, adding, "A lot of people got terribly hurt. And you know when you go out on a date, you don't need seven prescriptions for Quaaludes. I'm in show business. Famous people can meet women without the enormous prescriptions."

Apatow is, of course, referring to a 2005 deposition, which was recently made public, in which Cosby admits to obtaining Quaaludes to give to women with whom he wanted to have sex. In response to this revelation, Cosby's reps released the following statement:

The only reason Mr. Cosby settled was because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all those women on the stand and his family had no clue. That would have been very hurtful.

Ultimately, though, it was the sheer number of women accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them that served as the main catalyst for Apatow choosing to speak out. "When it's 40 people, it's certainly time for everyone to wake up and be concerned about the women," the Girls producer said.

Apatow has consistently used Twitter as a platform to voice his opinions about the Cosby controversy, from tweeting comedy clubs to ask why they would still let the comedian perform, to reacting directly to Cosby's Quaaludes admission and motivating the public to support the alleged victims.

Back in November of 2014, when allegations began flaring up again, Cosby's lawyers issued this official statement:

Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives.