After many controversial statements made by ABC's The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg about Bill Cosby, the Oscar-winning actress is now changing her statements about the 78-year-old former star of The Cosby Show. During Tuesday's taping of The View, Whoopi Goldberg reversed her thoughts about Bill Cosby after sitting down with ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams, who spoke to the talk show host about why Cosby hasn't gone to jail.
Over the past year, more than 20 women have come forward to accuse Cosby of some form of sexual assault. And for those unaware, on several occasions, Goldberg has supported Cosby and has declared the comedian is "innocent until proven guilty." Even more anger from the public rained down on the 59-year-old actress after she said, "He has not been proven a rapist." She also said, "It’s my opinion, and the American courts agree with me because still he has not been taken to jail or tried on anything. So back off me!”
Well, as of Tuesday, it seems Goldberg is trying to learn more about all of the legal matters surrounding Cosby, especially since that 2005 deposition revealing Cosby admitted to obtaining Quaaludes to use to have sex with women surfaced thanks to the AP and The Hollywood Reporter. Cosby's rep responded to the documents released by the Associated Press in July, saying: "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.”
But back to Goldberg. After Abrams explained to her that due to the statute of limitations expiring on both civil and criminal suits against Cosby that "effectively, nothing can be done" in the courts thanks to this "legal technicality." Goldberg was shocked by that statement and said, “You’re saying all that is left to these women is the court of public opinion.” Abrams agreed and said that the women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault "make a much more compelling case" and that "it is impossible to ignore the consistency of these stories."
After a lot of legal talk, Goldberg came to the following conclusion:
There is no recourse for these women except what they are doing. If this is to be tried in the court of public opinion I gotta say, all of the information that’s out there kinda points to guilt. Now, again, I always thought they would have the opportunity to take him to court, but [Abrams is] saying that’s not true.
She claimed that Cosby is a "serial rapist" who has "been on the streets for 30 years." Plus, Goldberg even added that she can no longer say "innocent until proven guilty." The segment ended with Goldberg exclaiming, “It looks bad, Bill. Either speak up or shut up, 'cause people know now there’s a lot more out there than they thought.”
As Abrams and Goldberg both noted, Cosby has been very careful about commenting on the sexual assault claims.
The statement Cosby gave through his lawyers in November 2014 remains the same:
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.
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