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Stand-up comic and Broad City star Hannibal Buress is making headlines right now because he called out Bill Cosby for being a “rapist.”
Buress, who used to write for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, is a comic known for his laid-back delivery style, absurdist jokes, and observational comedy. He’s an up-and-coming darling of the comedy world and he’s set to star in the upcoming Angry Birds movie. During a set in Philadelphia this past week, though, he made some interesting observations about comedy king Bill Cosby:
“Bill Cosby has the f–ing smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. Pull your pants up, black people. I was on TV in the ’80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom.’ Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby. So, [that] brings you down a couple notches. I don’t curse on stage. But yeah, you’re a rapist.”
See, while Cosby has endeared himself to America as the consummate family man and as a comedy class act, he’s also been hounded by rape allegations for years. It’s one of those things that people don’t like to talk about because it stains the family-friendly image that Cosby has cultivated. We don’t want to believe that Dr. Huxtable could have drugged multiple women and forced himself on them — but those are the allegations.
Buress added in his set, “I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch [The] Cosby Show reruns.” Does it make it weird? Can audiences separate a person’s art from their real life? This is a question that also stymies fans of artists like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. They’re great artists to be sure, but there’s always been a question of whether or not child abuse and rape accusations can ruin a fan’s appreciation of their work.
Cosby has never been formally charged with rape, but he did infamously settle a drug and sexual assault case in 2006. He has also been accused multiple times by multiple women of assault and his biographer came under criticism for omitting all references to these events. So, we don’t know if these allegations are true, but it is fact that these rumors exist — and that they keep resurfacing.
So, why did Buress feel the need to bring it up right now? It might be because Buress has a spotlight on him right now and he felt a need to use his platform to remind people that a comedy legend might not be the perfect man audiences think he is.
For more on Buress, you can stream Broad City or his stand up comedy specials, Animal Furnace and Live From Chicago.
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