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“He knew the public outcry was going to be great,” said Fleetwood resident Lisa Hofflich, a board member of the New York State chapter of NOW.
Cosby agreed to refund tickets for his next two shows at the Tarrytown Music Hall then outright “postponed” them as hundreds returned tickets and others threatened to protest his appearance. His upcoming show in Canada in January are already being threatened with boycotts and protests.
Read the Daily Voice story about the refunds here.
“They’ll be a backlash in Canada and those shows will be canceled too," said Hofflich.
Hofflich says Cosby can no longer hold a candle to his “Huxtable dad” image and most will try to distance themselves from the comedian if they can.
Tuscon, Arizona’s Diamone Desert casino canceled Cosby’s show without a reason, while Las Vegas’ Treasure Island said the casino and Cosby mutually agreed upon it, The Huffington Post reports.
“If they support Bill Cosby that says that sexual assault is something that can be white washed away through fame and celebrity and it’s not giving victims a real voice,” Hofflich told Daily Voice.
“I think that the venues that canceled his shows are taking a huge step forward in giving a voice a to victims.”
About 20 women have accused Cosby of sexual assault.
Cosby has not been charged with any sex crimes. He is currently counter-suing those making the most recent set of allegations against him, according to BBC.com.
“One in four women have survived rape or attempted rape in their lifetimes and serial predators drive that up,” said Hofflich. “So many rapes are unreported. For Cosby's people to say that this never happened because they weren’t reported earlier is more of the same.”
About 60 percent of rapes in the last five years went unreported and only about 3 percent of rapists served jail time, according to the Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
“Survivors of rape continuously face disbelief, blame and silence when they attempt to share their stories,” Chitra Panjabi, a vice president for the National Organization for Women, in a statement.
“The cases that have unfolded around Bill Cosby are no different. Since the first accusations arose in the early 2000s, these 13-plus women have been ignored, shamed, interrogated and silenced."
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