Bill Cosby Rape Allegations

2014hashtagclassic

Bill Cosby Rape Allegations became a defining internet story of the mid-2010s after comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby a rapist in an October 2014 stand-up clip. Two viral Twitter moments came out of it: the failed #CosbyMeme campaign, where users hijacked Cosby's own meme generator to post drugging jokes, and the #TheEmptyChair hashtag, which followed a July 2015 New York Magazine cover of 35 accusers.

scandal memeshashtag memesbackfire memescelebrity backlash memesmid 2010s memes

Overview

Bill Cosby Rape Allegations refer to a series of sexual assault accusations made against the American comedian that turned into one of the internet's most visible pre-#MeToo reckonings between late 2014 and 20182. The first known police report against Cosby was filed by actress Lachele Covington with the NYPD in January 20001, but the story only broke wide open after a Philadelphia stand-up set in which comedian Hannibal Buress bluntly called Cosby a serial rapist2.

The internet piece is defined by two Twitter moments. In November 2014 Cosby's own account launched an image-macro tool tagged #CosbyMeme, which was overrun within hours by users captioning his photos with references to the drugging accusations. The following July, New York Magazine's cover portrait of 35 accusers with one empty chair produced the #TheEmptyChair hashtag, used by survivors sharing their own stories3.

By the time Cosby went to trial in 2018, the accuser count was in the dozens, and Andrea Constand's Pennsylvania case was widely described as the first celebrity sexual assault verdict of the #MeToo era6.

How It Spread

On November 10, 2014, Cosby's official Twitter posted a photo captioned "Happy Monday!" with a link to a Meme Generator page inviting fans to caption Cosby image macros under the hashtag #CosbyMeme. The tag was hijacked within hours by users making rape jokes, and Cosby's tweet was deleted the same day3. Days later, model Janice Dickinson told Entertainment Tonight that Cosby had drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982 after inviting her to discuss a singing career4. Dickinson said she had tried to include the account in her 2002 memoir No Lifeguard on Duty but was pressured to cut it by Cosby's lawyers and HarperCollins4.

On July 6, 2015, the Associated Press won an unsealing motion that released a 2005 deposition in which Cosby had testified he obtained seven Quaalude prescriptions with the intent of giving the sedative to women he wanted to sleep with5. Days later the sexual violence group PAVE launched a WhiteHouse.gov petition to strip Cosby of the Presidential Medal of Freedom he had received in 2002, drawing more than 14,000 signatures in three weeks5. President Barack Obama responded at a news conference that there was "no precedent for revoking the medal" but that giving someone a drug without their knowledge and having sex with them "that's rape"5.

The July 27, 2015 New York Magazine issue put 35 accusers in seated black-and-white portraits on its cover, with one empty chair for the 11 women who declined to be photographed and any who might come forward later. The #TheEmptyChair hashtag was used more than 14,000 times in the first 24 hours after publication3. NBC canceled a planned Cosby project, Netflix pulled a scheduled comedy special, the U.S. Navy revoked his honorary title, and Cosby resigned from the Temple University board of trustees5.

How to Use This Meme

The #CosbyMeme format was a plain image macro. Users grabbed studio photos of Cosby and captioned them with dark punchlines about drugging drinks or the allegations themselves, deliberately turning his own promo tool against him3. #TheEmptyChair works the opposite way. Survivors typically opened posts with the line "I sit in #TheEmptyChair" followed by their own account, echoing the empty seat on the New York Magazine cover; some prominent Twitter accounts posted screenshots of DMs from survivors who wanted to share stories without attaching their names3.

Cultural Impact

At a 2016 pretrial hearing in Pennsylvania, Cosby's defense argued he was too blind from glaucoma to recognize his accusers or examine photographs, an argument prosecutor Robert Fallin dismissed by saying Cosby's vision report looked like "something you'd get walking out of a LensCrafters at the mall"7. Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill was skeptical, noting there was no evidence Cosby had lost the ability to recollect events7.

In April 2018 a Montgomery County jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004, with five other accusers testifying as prior-bad-acts witnesses at the retrial6. When prosecutors asked for his bail to be revoked as a flight risk with a private plane, the 80-year-old Cosby, who had sat silently through the entire trial, stood up and yelled "He doesn't have a plane, you asshole" at the prosecutor6.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bill Cosby Rape Allegations

2014hashtagclassic

Bill Cosby Rape Allegations became a defining internet story of the mid-2010s after comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby a rapist in an October 2014 stand-up clip. Two viral Twitter moments came out of it: the failed #CosbyMeme campaign, where users hijacked Cosby's own meme generator to post drugging jokes, and the #TheEmptyChair hashtag, which followed a July 2015 New York Magazine cover of 35 accusers.

scandal memes hashtag memes backfire memes celebrity backlash memes mid 2010s memes

Overview

Bill Cosby Rape Allegations refer to a series of sexual assault accusations made against the American comedian that turned into one of the internet's most visible pre-#MeToo reckonings between late 2014 and 20182. The first known police report against Cosby was filed by actress Lachele Covington with the NYPD in January 20001, but the story only broke wide open after a Philadelphia stand-up set in which comedian Hannibal Buress bluntly called Cosby a serial rapist2.

The internet piece is defined by two Twitter moments. In November 2014 Cosby's own account launched an image-macro tool tagged #CosbyMeme, which was overrun within hours by users captioning his photos with references to the drugging accusations. The following July, New York Magazine's cover portrait of 35 accusers with one empty chair produced the #TheEmptyChair hashtag, used by survivors sharing their own stories3.

By the time Cosby went to trial in 2018, the accuser count was in the dozens, and Andrea Constand's Pennsylvania case was widely described as the first celebrity sexual assault verdict of the #MeToo era6.

How It Spread

On November 10, 2014, Cosby's official Twitter posted a photo captioned "Happy Monday!" with a link to a Meme Generator page inviting fans to caption Cosby image macros under the hashtag #CosbyMeme. The tag was hijacked within hours by users making rape jokes, and Cosby's tweet was deleted the same day3. Days later, model Janice Dickinson told Entertainment Tonight that Cosby had drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982 after inviting her to discuss a singing career4. Dickinson said she had tried to include the account in her 2002 memoir No Lifeguard on Duty but was pressured to cut it by Cosby's lawyers and HarperCollins4.

On July 6, 2015, the Associated Press won an unsealing motion that released a 2005 deposition in which Cosby had testified he obtained seven Quaalude prescriptions with the intent of giving the sedative to women he wanted to sleep with5. Days later the sexual violence group PAVE launched a WhiteHouse.gov petition to strip Cosby of the Presidential Medal of Freedom he had received in 2002, drawing more than 14,000 signatures in three weeks5. President Barack Obama responded at a news conference that there was "no precedent for revoking the medal" but that giving someone a drug without their knowledge and having sex with them "that's rape"5.

The July 27, 2015 New York Magazine issue put 35 accusers in seated black-and-white portraits on its cover, with one empty chair for the 11 women who declined to be photographed and any who might come forward later. The #TheEmptyChair hashtag was used more than 14,000 times in the first 24 hours after publication3. NBC canceled a planned Cosby project, Netflix pulled a scheduled comedy special, the U.S. Navy revoked his honorary title, and Cosby resigned from the Temple University board of trustees5.

How to Use This Meme

The #CosbyMeme format was a plain image macro. Users grabbed studio photos of Cosby and captioned them with dark punchlines about drugging drinks or the allegations themselves, deliberately turning his own promo tool against him3. #TheEmptyChair works the opposite way. Survivors typically opened posts with the line "I sit in #TheEmptyChair" followed by their own account, echoing the empty seat on the New York Magazine cover; some prominent Twitter accounts posted screenshots of DMs from survivors who wanted to share stories without attaching their names3.

Cultural Impact

At a 2016 pretrial hearing in Pennsylvania, Cosby's defense argued he was too blind from glaucoma to recognize his accusers or examine photographs, an argument prosecutor Robert Fallin dismissed by saying Cosby's vision report looked like "something you'd get walking out of a LensCrafters at the mall"7. Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill was skeptical, noting there was no evidence Cosby had lost the ability to recollect events7.

In April 2018 a Montgomery County jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in 2004, with five other accusers testifying as prior-bad-acts witnesses at the retrial6. When prosecutors asked for his bail to be revoked as a flight risk with a private plane, the 80-year-old Cosby, who had sat silently through the entire trial, stood up and yelled "He doesn't have a plane, you asshole" at the prosecutor6.

Frequently Asked Questions