# Bill Cosby Rape Allegations
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.
## 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 2018[2]. The first known police report against Cosby was filed by actress Lachele Covington with the NYPD in January 2000[1], but the story only broke wide open after a Philadelphia stand-up set in which comedian Hannibal Buress bluntly called Cosby a serial rapist[2].
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 stories[3].
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 era[6].
## 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 day[3]. 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 career[4]. 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 HarperCollins[4].
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 with[5]. 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 weeks[5]. 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 publication[3]. 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 trustees[5].
## How to Use
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 him[3]. #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 names[3].
## 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 events[7].
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 retrial[6]. 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 prosecutor[6].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Bill Cosby Rape Allegations?
It's the umbrella label for the wave of sexual assault accusations made against comedian Bill Cosby, which turned into a viral internet story in October 2014 after Hannibal Buress called him a serial rapist in a Philadelphia stand-up set[2].
### Where did Bill Cosby Rape Allegations come from?
The first police report was filed by actress Lachele Covington in New York in January 2000, though the story only went viral after the Buress stand-up clip circulated online in 2014[1].
### What does Bill Cosby Rape Allegations mean?
It refers to the multi-year set of drugging and sexual assault claims from dozens of women that ended with Cosby's April 2018 conviction for assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004[6].
### How do you use Bill Cosby Rape Allegations?
As a meme, users made Cosby image macros under the #CosbyMeme hashtag or wrote survivor testimonies under #TheEmptyChair, echoing the empty seat on the July 2015 New York Magazine cover[3].
### Is Bill Cosby Rape Allegations still popular?
The meme moments peaked between late 2014 and mid-2015, and mainstream interest spiked again around Cosby's April 2018 conviction[6].
### What is the #CosbyMeme hashtag?
Cosby's own Twitter account posted a link to a Meme Generator page under #CosbyMeme on November 10, 2014, and the tag was immediately hijacked with references to the assault claims, so the original tweet was deleted that day[3].
### What is #TheEmptyChair?
It's the hashtag that spread after New York Magazine's July 27, 2015 cover of 35 accusers with one empty chair; survivors used it to share their own experiences, with more than 14,000 uses in the first 24 hours[3].
### What did Hannibal Buress say about Bill Cosby?
During a Philadelphia stand-up set in October 2014, Buress called Cosby a serial rapist in reference to Andrea Constand's 2005 lawsuit, which reignited public attention on the allegations[2].
### Was Bill Cosby convicted?
Yes. In April 2018 a Montgomery County jury found the 80-year-old comedian guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004[6].
### Did President Obama address the Cosby allegations?
At a July 2015 news conference Obama said there was "no precedent" for revoking Cosby's 2002 Presidential Medal of Freedom but stressed that drugging someone without consent and having sex with them "that's rape"[5].
### What was Cosby's blind defense?
At a 2016 pretrial hearing his lawyers argued glaucoma had left Cosby too blind to recognize his accusers, an argument the prosecution compared to a printout from a LensCrafters at the mall[7].
### What did the 2015 Cosby deposition reveal?
Court documents unsealed by the Associated Press showed Cosby had testified in 2005 that he obtained seven Quaalude prescriptions with the intent of giving the sedative to women he wanted to sleep with[5].
### What happened to Cosby's TV work after the allegations?
NBC canceled a planned project, Netflix pulled a scheduled comedy special, the U.S. Navy revoked his honorary title, and he resigned from the Temple University board of trustees[5].
## References
1. [https://nypost.com/2000/03/02/actress-bombshell-cos-rubbed-me-the-wrong-way/]()
2. [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2806437/Bill-Cosby-threw-bed-pinned-neck-ll-never-forget-sound-clinking-belt-buckle-Actress-lifts-lid-harrowing-years-rape-hands-TV-legend.html]()
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/bill-cosby-rape-allegations]()
4. [https://www.etonline.com/news/154076_janice_dickinson_details_alleged_bill_cosby_sexual_assault/]()
5. [https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/15/423258004/obama-no-precedent-to-revoke-bill-cosby-s-presidential-medal-of-honor]()
6. [https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/us/bill-cosby-trial/index.html]()
7. [https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/cosby-lawyer-says-client-blind-not-meme-n676881]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/bill-cosby-rape-allegations
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