'Critical Mass' of Rape Allegations Prompted NBC to Cancel Cosby Project

Just last year, NBC said it was developing a new TV show with comedian Bill Cosby. Now, the network doesn’t want anything to do with him.

NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt said “I think that’s safe to say” there won’t be any future projects with Cosby, who has been accused by several women of rape. Cosby starred in the network’s iconic The Cosby Show.

Greenblatt’s comments came today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif.

Last November, NBC pulled the plug on its Cosby project.

“Fifteen women came out and accused him,” Greenblatt said. “While over the years we’d heard some of those accusations and knew there were a couple settlements, it didn’t seem to be the sort of thing that was critical mass.”

It’s important to point out Cosby, 77, has denied all the allegation and has not been charged in any of the alleged assaults. Some of those allegations are decades old, and, as such, fall outside the statute of limitations. Cosby settled a 2005 suit that alleged sexual misconduct.

The scandal has resulted in a slew of canceled performances in Cosby’s ongoing standup tour; a Netflix comedy special was also nixed. The U.S. Navy revoked an honorary title for the comedian, and he resigned from the board of trustees at Temple University.

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