Bill Cosby's Team Is Fuming Over New Showtime Show 'We Need to Talk About Cosby'
Showtime's new docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby has the comedian's team in shambles. The four-part series features interviews with historians, entertainers, cultural critics, and health experts as they grapple with the public image of "America's Favorite Dad" in the wake of his downfall for his private indiscretions. The series premieres on Jan. 30 at 10 p.m. ET on the network. It initially premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2022 and is creating lots of buzz. But, Cosby's team is not happy.
"Let's talk about Bill Cosby: Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work...because of race and gender within the expanses of the entertainment industries," the exclusive statement to PEOPLE reads in part. "Let's talk about Bill Cosby. Mr. Cosby continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths…intentionally. Despite the media's repetitive reports of allegations against Mr. Cosby, none have ever been proven in any court of law."
The Cosby Show creator was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018. Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee, told a court that the comedian drugged her and sexually assaulted her in his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, home in 2004. He served three years of a 10-year sentence before being released in 2021.
The statement from Cosby's team concludes with: "Let's talk about Bill Cosby. Mr. Cosby vehemently denies all allegations waged against him. Let's talk about Bill Cosby. He wants our nation to be what it proclaims itself to be: a democracy."
The docuseries is directed by Emmy-winning comic and TV host W. Kamau Bell. Bell also narrates the series. Several notable faces appear in the series, including Steve Watkins, the director's assistant on The Cosby Show; Joseph C. Phillips and Lili Bernard, two actors who appeared on the show; Eden Tirl, a model who says she had uncomfortable experiences with Cosby.