Chasing Cosby: The Downfall of America's Dad

by Nicole Weisensee Egan

The definitive account of Bill Cosby's transition from revered father figure to convicted criminal, told by a veteran crime reporter and former senior writer for People magazine

Bill Cosby's decades-long career as a sweater-wearing, wholesome TV dad came to a swift and stunning end on April 26, 2018, when he was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand. The mounting allegations against Bill Cosby--more than 60 women have come forward to accuse him of similar crimes--and his ultimate conviction were a shock to Americans, who wanted to cleave to their image of Cosby as a pudding-pop hero.

Award-winning journalist and former People magazine senior writer Nicki Weisensee Egan was the first reporter to dig into the story when Constand went to the police in 2005. Other news organizations looked away, but Egan doggedly investigated the case, developing ties with entrenched sources and discovering incriminating details that would ultimately come to influence the prosecution.

In her debut book, Chasing Cosby , Egan shares her firsthand account of Cosby's 13-year run from justice. She tells us how Cosby planned and executed his crimes, and how Hollywood alliances and law enforcement knew what Cosby was doing but did nothing to stop him. A veteran crime reporter, Egan also explores the cultural and social issues that influenced the case, delving into the psychological calculations of a serial predator and into the psyche of a nation that fervently wanted to put their faith in the innocence of "American's Dad."

Rich in character and rife with dramatic revelations about popular culture, media power, and our criminal system, Egan's account will inform and fascinate readers with its candid telling of humanity's most enduring the rise and fall of a cultural icon.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Biography, Audiobook, Womens, Law

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2019

Reviews

[Edgarr Alien Pooh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Cosby, America's Dad, champion of comedy, Fat Albert and the Cosby Show. A star in his own right, a leader in many ways, and loved by millions around the world. One of my favourite cartoons growing up was Fat Albert. The Cosby Show was always a delight, funny yet light but putting a message across too. In many ways, it was the prequel to shows like Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld, and Friends, shows based on humour but based on a family or close-knit group. Cosby was a genius but we all know what he did, and sadly it was even occurring at the same time we poured out our adoration for the man.

Nicole Weisensee Egan is a journalist who got caught up in the reporting of Cosby's crimes, she was a go-between for several of the woman and lawyers accusing Cosby. She spoke to most of the victims, quoted them when allowed, and attended the trials. Both of them, after the first, was a mistrial due to a hung jury. She changed job roles in this time but was always drawn back to the case.

Plain and simple, Bill Cosby was imprisoned for drugging and raping up to 60 women. A disgustingly heinous crime in itself but the way he went about it is purely cold-blooded and self-indulging. Bill groomed a lot of these women. He knew them for years, helped them at times, got to know their families, played on his 'American Dad' image and then invited them out to dinner, or back to one of his houses, drugged their drinks, and raped them. He met women through modeling agencies, at his shows, or at the University where he used to attend. Always the pretense of 'help', helping to start their acting career, getting them a bit part on The Cosby Show, helping with their confidence.

This guy that I loved is an arsehole. But what of the others? Those in his inner circle, his friends who knew for years what he was doing. Those who worked on the show and brought women back to his room and stood out front as security. What about the people running the modeling agencies who were in contact with Cosby and would send him young women at his request on the pretense of him mentoring them? Firstly, give me a break, saying you had no idea, and if you didn't what did you do when these girls told you. Who of you can put your hand up and say you did something, you reported it, you stopped him?

This book is a great eye-opener to what went on and how it was allowed. Cosby is scum and there are many others who are not squeaky clean. Turning a blind eye is wrong, a friend, a colleague, or an idol should not be allowed to continue this behavior based on your relationship to him/her. A very well written book and an important book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I mentioned in my review of Mark Whitaker's Cosby biography, I watched the 4 part documentary series We Need to Talk About Cosby and it kind of sent me down a rabbit hole. I suddenly became obsessed with learning more about a man who has been famous for not only my whole life but for my parents whole life. My parents grew up with I Spy and Fat Albert. My sister watched The Electric Company and The Cosby Show. I also grew up on The Cosby Show reruns and Ghost Dad use to be one of my favorite movies as a kid( I have bad taste). Bill Cosby was just always around pop culture.

As I got older I wasn't a fan of Bill Cosby as a person but I still loved The Cosby Show. His "Pound Cake" Speech, in which he blamed poor Black people for all the problems in the Black community and not systemic racism really turned me off. I had also heard about Cosby's proclivities but nobody really talked about it so I just assumed it was shit talking. When the Hannibal Buress tape dropped I didn't understand what the big deal was since Black folks had been saying this for years. And when women started coming forward I didn't completely believe it, because it was at that time a bunch of white women accusing a Black man of sexual assault. There is a history in America of white women falsely accusing Black men of rape, of whistling at them, of looking at them and those Black men were jailed or lynched. So I had my doubts despite already knowing the rumors for years.....

And then that deposition was released and that was a game changer. I haven't watched anything with Cosby in it since, I can't even watch A Different World anymore.

Nicole Weisensee Egan has been on the Cosby beat since 2005 when Cosby was sued by Andrea Constand for sexual assault. She watched with disgust as the media just believed Cosby was innocent and then moved on. In the years between 2005 and 2014 she continued to investigate and develop sources. Chasing Cosby follows Cosby's 13 year run from justice.

I enjoyed Chasing Cosby but it often felt rushed. This book is rather short given the amount of reporting Egan has conducted. It could have used another 50 to 100 pages. I wanted it to be more fleshed out. I do still recommend this book along with watching We Need to Talk About Cosby. I'm happy I got the full experience of the documentary, the Mark Whitaker biography and Chasing Cosby. Taken as a trilogy it gives you a complete picture of Bill Cosby as a man, a public figure and as a sexual predator.

Content Warnings for Rape, Sexual Assault, Drugging, PTSD, and talk of suicide.

[MacWithBooksonMountains Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight from the horse`s mouth. The author is the lady that not only dared to listen to the 2005 accuser of Cosby but also gave her a voice. Back then nothing much came of it. Now, we know that Cosby, America's dad, was a disguise under which one of America's prolific sexual offender operated. If you read this book you will be shocked to realize that he was worse than you could ever have imagined in 2005.

[Rama Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of a sexual predator

Race had always been a haunting backdrop to Cosby’s story. Defense attorney Andrew Wyatt was hoping that Cosby’s downfall would invoke memories of so many tragic cases in which innocent African Americans were wrongly accused and convicted. But in the case of Bill Cosby, it was not a wrongful conviction, having 60 women accuse him of sexual assault, he looked more like a serial rapist who got off easy. In fact, Cosby’s case reverberates as a case of reverse-racism, since most of his victims were white and very attractive women. It was sad that the benefits of civil rights and injustices done to black men in this country played favorably for Cosby in a politically correct atmosphere.

In October 2014 comedian Hannibal Buress's comedy routine of Cosby’s sexual misconduct resulted in more women coming forward with their experiences of Cosby’s sexual misconduct. About 60 women have accused him of drug-facilitated sexual assault and sexual misconduct that span from 1965 to 2008. Luckily for Cosby, the statute of limitations for criminal trial expired in nearly all cases except for Andrea Constand. After a year-long trial, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to three to ten years in prison in a Pennsylvania court. Bill Cosby admitted to sex involving the use of the sedative methaqualone (Quaaludes). Famed book publisher Judith Regan also took the stand at the criminal trial and confirmed that she told model Janice Dickinson that she couldn’t include her account of being drugged and raped by Cosby in her memoir due to potential legal issues. During this trial the judge allowed five accusers to testify being drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby; Janice Dickinson was one of them.

Egan is an experienced journalist and she was the first reporter to investigate Cosby illegally administering the drug and sexually assaulting his victims. This is very well researched work with numerous references. The story is discussed in distinct periods, and how it evolved to bring Cosby to justice. Jan 2005 to Oct 2014 section starts with Andrea Constand being sexually assaulted by Cosby at his home in Philadelphia; Oct 2014 to June 2017, exposing the skeletons from Bill Cosby’s closet by stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress during his comedy sketches. He was an unknown stand-up trying to break into the comedy business by discussing the rape allegations against Teflon Cosby. The last section, June 2017 to Sep 2018 ends with Andrea Constand’s victory in the criminal case against Cosby. Bill Cosby was handcuffed and led to the place where he always belonged. At the end of the book, there is a detailed notes for each chapter as an appendix where readers could find more facts in the Cosby drama. This is a very well narrated story and reads flawlessly. I recommend this book to readers interested in Bill Cosby’s predatorial behavior.

[Judy Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I paid a little bit of attention in January 2005 when the news broke that Bill Cosby had been accused of sexual assault. From my point of view the story went quiet until the announcement that a civil lawsuit had been settled between Andrea Constand and Bill Cosby so I figured that was the end of that. The next thing I was aware of was the announcement of the results of a criminal trial verdict against Cosby in April 2018. I wondered what in the world happened all those years between. This debut book by Nicole Wisensee Egan fills in all the information about what happened in this case with charges of sexual assault against a man everyone thought they knew. Turns out we knew nothing about him at all.

Nicole Egan began collecting research material concerning the allegations against Cosby in 2005 and made the fortuitous decision to hang on to all her notes when the civil lawsuit was settled. Those notes gave her a decided lead in writing more current articles when the story came front and center again with criminal charges against Cosby by Ms. Constand. The wealth of information Ms. Egan had is what has made this book read like a timeline of facts she had gathered to put this story together from start to finish. I will admit I did not want to believe that "Dr. Cliff Huxtable" would commit this crime or the vast number of other sexual assaults he was connected with. For me Dr. Huxtable and Bill Cosby were the same person. How could I have misjudged someone so completely? How did we all? It took a very detailed, fact filled exhibit of what transpired over a thirteen year time period to make me understand that Dr. Huxtable was just a television character, he was not ever Bill Cosby.

I'm glad I read the book even though it stripped away the false front of one of my favorite "characters". At least now I do understand that there is a total difference between that character and the man who was accused by over 60 women of sexual assault. If 60 women came forward, how many others did not or could not bring themselves to go public? Cosby was aided in his campaign of obtaining sex without consent by all the people in the entertainment and law enforcement communities who knew what he was doing and did nothing. Some people actually actively helped Cosby in his pursuit of young women to "mentor". Ms. Egan was not granted any access to Bill Cosby but the depositions by Cosby and Constand in the civil lawsuit were unsealed and read aloud during the criminal trials. His own words were his undoing.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This feels like the definitive account of the Cosby rape stories. So sad to see that he was drugging and raping women with the same method over and over for over 50 years before finally being convicted. Over 60 victims have come forward with very similar stories. Many people around him knew. But he had such a squeaky clean image as a wholesome comedian, father figure, philanthropist, etc., that people would just look the other way or refuse to believe it. Only one accuser took him to trial and it took four trips through the courts to get a conviction. First time, the DA wouldn't take it all the way to court. Then she did a civil case and settled. Then the original DA did take him to court but botched it and got a mistrial. Ten years later a new trial after the Weinstein case finally got a conviction.

The author, Egan, was there for the whole thing. She wrote about the first trial and picked-up reporting again when the latest one came around. She has interviews with many, many of the over 60 accusers and the stories are so similar. Cosby would first gain the trust of the victim and their friends and family so that when he acted, no one would believe he could have done it. He would call and chat with the parents while the victim was still recovering from the drugs. In one case he visited the victim's kid brother in the cancer ward while she was recovering. She kept quiet because she didn't want to ruin his joy at meeting a celebrity.

There are several examples here of newspapers, especially the Enquirer, "trading up". This is the same practice that Ronan Farrow describes as "catch and kill". They would get an exclusive interview with a victim, and then not publish it, instead using it as a lever to get cooperation from Cosby for future interviews. Disgusting!

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was one of those who didn't believe Cosby did any of the things he was accused of. The next thing i heard was that he was convicted and was going to jail. So something had been learned by the court that took Andrea's story from 'money-hunter' to victimized woman. This book lays it all out. Fortunately it is done in a readable manner! Not too much slogging. Nicole really lays it out that Cosby had been doing this for decades, that hollywood people knew about it and they just didn't care. As long as Cosby was making money what he did privately was of no concern to them even though rape is a criminal offense, not to mention traumatic to the victims.

Here;s my big question: Cosby was good-looking, successful, much-loved by the public. He could have had many women in his bed willingly. Just get a divorce from the wife and what he does in his spare time and with whom wouldn't matter. But he had to drug and rape trusting young women who were just hoping for a break into the modelling or acting world. I guess this is a definate indication that rape isn't about sex but about the power and excitement it brings to the rapist. I wish there would have been more insight into this, but maybe this book was written too soon for this sort of understanding. Now we just need Diane Sawyer or Oprah to go into the prison and do an interview. I also wonder how this knowledge affected his wife and kids. As far as this book stated, Camille believed he was being unjustly accused. Is this still the case now that over 60 women have come forward?

So sad that a guy who had it all- would decide to throw it all away on some cheap thrills gotten by drugging and raping trusting women. He could have gotten his thrills by bungee jumping or white water rafting and still be loved by all. What a sad sad story.

[Lynn Labs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book that brings light to a horrible issue - sexual assault. As a victim of sexual assault as a child, I know how difficult it is for someone to come forward about what was done to them. The justice system would not allow everyone to testify at Cosby's trial due to the statute of limitations on sexual assault. The fact that Nicole Weisenee Egan allowed numerous women to tell their stories is powerful!! I, for one, am glad that those women who chose to tell their stories were given this opportunity by the author. I felt that Ms. Egan provided more facts about Cosby's horrible acts than was provided to the public by the media. The fact that Cosby attempted to portray himself as "American's Dad" allowed the media the opportunity to bury this story. Ms. Egan gives the reader an opportunity to know all of the facts - and some insight into the wonderful women who were willing to step forward and endure the public's criticism and scrutiny. I wish the justice system would allow more of these women to testify and allow their stories to be told. All in all, this is an excellent book that I would recommend 100%!

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd read, maybe because the author was using a crowbar to fit literally 15 years of investigative reporting into a book. For example, never before have I wished for MORE detail on what got said in court. The author was very impressionistic, saying in essence "the defense atty was really rough on the witness and I felt like a wet noodle after watching her go through it," and I had no idea what the attorney asked, how the witness responded or how long any of this took. Where this book really shines, though, is in telling us how Bill Cosby sailed through life making incredible amounts of money being loved by one and all...at exactly the same time he was a serial sex offender, devastating the lives of uncounted victims and cheerfully getting away with that for decades. I'm glad I read this one and I feel I learned quite a bit about Cosby and his ilk.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When my mother heard the news about Bill Cosby's sexual crimes she wondered why it took so many years for them to come out. I asked the same question. Finally this book answers this question.

I was never a fan of The Cosby Show, it was amusing but not anything fantastic, and the same could be said of Cosby's comedy routines. Still, like most people I believed he was a good person and his exposure as a sexual predator came as a tremendous shock. Though a sex scandal came up in 2005, it would only be a decade later that the whole truth would come out, and it was far worse than anyone expected. It was not even until I read this book that I found out the worst of what Cosby had done. Fifty years of drugging and raping many women, and fifty years of everyone turning a blind eye, until a few little-known people finally pushed Bill Cosby's bad behavior to the forefront and the world was forced to find out who the man really was behind his angelic image.

While the book has told me the awful truth about Bill Cosby and how the worst was revealed, it has several flaws that prevent a 5-star review. Firstly, the book is reasonably short, but the author has an annoying tendency to repeat things unnecessarily. Second of all, she brings up Clarence Thomas, who was accused by one woman of sexual harassment and even then the allegations were not on the level of rape or even physical contact. Third, the author claims that few claims of sexual crimes are spurious, when in fact false claims are not rare-the story of the MacMartin Preschool supposedly being a cesspool of devil worship and child molestation being revealed as a total fabrication with children being coached to lie. Finally, the author loftily praises the #Metoo movement, yet while she briefly mentions Paula Jones as a Bill Clinton "accuser", she fails to mention how feminists ended up rallying around Clinton while demonizing those who charged him with sexual misconduct, which led the public to believe that feminists were using sexual harassment for strictly partisan attacks and being unwilling to shoot their own dog.

Still, the book is must reading for those who want to learn about Bill Cosby and the crimes he has done.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique perspective by the author – having covered the story from the early 2000s, back in the days before Me Too. A mind-numbing 60 women have reported that Cosby drugged and assaulted them – this seemingly a pattern starting in the 1970s. He would typically befriend an aspiring model, charming them with wit and being generous with his time. He might or might not give clear signals of wanting something more. Then at some point he prepares a drink for them, or outright insists they take some pills, “to help them relax.” Creepily, he was known to form simultaneous chatty relationships with the parents, even in the aftermath stages of the exploitation. What was he thinking? We’ll never know, certainly not from this book, since BC declined to talk with the author. Armchair diagnosis by a psychiatrist points to narcissism and psychopathy; a mindset that revels in a strong sense of impunity. The risk of getting caught makes it all the more enjoyable.

That he got away with it for so many years is credit not just to his skillfully-wielded influence and charisma, but also to the “male ally-ship” of practically the whole legal system, backstopped by widespread ignorance of the realities of sex assault. “Why did you not go straight to the police?” “Why would you call him again after he did that?” “Why would you wear an outfit like that?” “Why should we believe you, since your life also includes examples of unrelated bad behavior?” “Why was it even a problem, since you got on well with your life?” These, and more, aggressively-skeptical questions have been the expected litany to be directed at sex-crime accusers by justice system officials and the public at large. “Why do we not ask similar clueless and irrelevant questions about any other type of complainant?” – was never asked.

[Judy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that was uncomfortable to read at times. The fact that the accusations were virtually ignored for 9 years after being brought to light, the DA brushing everything under the carpet as swiftly as possible at the time and the fans who never believe that Cosby could ever do anything wrong in the face of evidence. People fail to realize that a person can be more than one thing. You can be a family man and a serial killer. You can be a priest and a pedophile or in Cosby's case you can be a philanthropist and a sexual predator. The victims were basically victimized twice as the Cosby defense team heaped shame and blame on the victims. The eye opening statistics on rape were also a bit surprising. Much was made of the delay in reporting the crime at the time which is quite typical really not to mention that memory altering drugs were involved and the accused was in a position of power and control. Although this was a bit dry at times and the back and forth could make keeping the victims identities straight a bit difficult it is a well researched and eye-opening book.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a hard read, as the subject matter is disturbing. America's dad is really a sexual predator? Who used his fame, money and power to silence his victims? Stomach turning. Chilling. However, we should all take the time to sit, uncomfortably, with our false notions of sexual assault. We should challenge cultural "knowledge" that places the blame on the victim (what they were wearing, where they were, what their behavior was, etc) and exonerates the rapist (his image is spotless, he's a good guy, he's a humanitarian, she asked for it, etc). A person's public persona does not excuse their criminal behavior. Nor should it overshadow the testimony of many, many women who have been victimized. I am dismayed and disgusted at how long Cosby's team manipulated the media and therefore, public knowledge of his true nature. While social media continues to promote falsehood as truth, I am grateful that it was able to break the cycle and expose Cosby for who he really is: a wolf in sheep's clothing.

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing. I didn’t intend to speed through this book but I ended up reading it in two days, because I found myself fascinated by the questions Egan raises about the intersection of race, celebrity, gender and money in America. She is a gripping story-teller — and also a dogged reporter. One reason the book works well is that she puts herself in the story, raising questions (why didn’t the media/general public care about this story when the accusations first emerged? Why did it take a black male comedian to raise the issue before we had public acceptance of the charges? How can we acknowledge Cosby’s achievements in entertainment while at the same time holding an image of him as the perpetrator of heinous crimes?) It’s compelling and provocative. It’s impossible to think about the Weinstein case without considering this book and the very different trajectories that the Cosby case initially took about a decade earlier (even Ronan Farrow — Ronan Farrow! — had difficulty believing Cosby’s accusers initially).

[Anya Pavelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This definitely isn't a comfortable book to read, but it is an interesting and comprehensive account about what Cosby's victims endured. I was in grade school during the 80s and grew up with the Cosby Show, the Jello commercials, and knowledge of Cosby's philanthropic works. Egan deftly weaves accounts from Cosby's victims into the bits about Cosby and his life, which helps pierce the nostalgic hero worship that readers may have. I also appreciated how Egan humanizes Cosby's victims. I believed these women long before reading this book, but I wanted to learn more about them beyond what the media reported. It's important to give these women a voice, and I think Chasing Cosby accomplishes that. Again, this book is hard to read at times. I enjoy nonfiction books, especially ones with important objectives, so I very much enjoyed the book despite the painful subject matter.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're like me, you grew up with Bill Cosby. If you're like me, these women had to be crazy, this great comedian, civil rights activist, philanthropist and family man would never drug a woman, then rape her. And we were all wrong!
Nicole Weisensee Egan was there when the first woman came out with her story. A newspaper reporter in Philadelphia she worked the case in 2005 and never lost interest. She was ready with her notes and contacts when Cosby was charged and went to trial in 2017. She tells the story of how money and celebrity have power over the truth.
The book read like a mystery novel. We knew how it ended, but we couldn't believe it until it did!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I knew the story, this was a fascinating read nevertheless. Like Harvery Weinstein, Cosby’s drugging and raping was a well known secret. He meticulously courted the entire family (a la Michael Jackson). Amazing how the story died in 2005 to be resurrected in 2014 via comedian Burress.

Interesting that trading up (papers would agree to kill a story for an exclusive interview with Cosby) is no longer viable given social media.

One annoying point: author inserted herself a little too much (for instance, I really didn’t care she was sick) was a little too self-congratulatory and self-important for my taste.

[Estella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicole Egan did an excellent job of portraying Bill Cosby exactly as he was - an evil, depraved human being who masqueraded as a philanthropist, family man and all-around good guy while using the power that came from being a big celebrity (Cliff Huxtable, “America’s Dad”) to gain access to dozens of women, some of whom were in their early teens. After gaining their trust, he would then proceed to drug and rape them. He did this, AND GOT AWAY WITH IT, for decades. It’s unimaginable that someone so despicable could damage that many lives and escape justice for over forty years. And even then, he got a measly “three to ten years” in the slammer. I will never watch The Cosby Show again.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sad day!

Though my heart feels constricted in reading this about America’s once-beloved Cosby, my heart grieves for the women who trusted him and were shattered by his blatant disregard for them and his (and others’) lies and cover-ups. It serves as one more act, not only against these women but against his entire race. He’s a sh-- stain and his wife is the smell.

Racism? He’s kidding, right? How can Cosby and his legal team even think of using this as a defense? Do they not know that millions of whites and other races watched and loved him? I know I did. That racism crap burns my butt!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this book after listening to the really outstanding podcast of the same name. I generally recommend listening to the podcast first because hearing those women talk about her experiences makes this case even more powerful. I am so glad he was convicted after all those years.

A captivating account of the long fight to have all those women taken seriously. I never really watched the show and now I'm glad about it.

[Jill Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

An A-Z narration of the fall of serial rapist and narcissistic sociopath Bill “America’s Dad”
Cosby. Chronological, informed, documented, but with little insight into what made Cosby do what he did—at the last count—to 64 women. A little disappointed in the shallowness of the telling, but found this a good starting basic reference to the criminal case that spanned 14 years.

[Dennis McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Cosby did is unforgivable. The way the world reacted to his accusers? Eye opening. The fact that the man’s talent and his accomplishments have been trashed? Tragic.

This book has the whole story. It’s grim and depressing and very, very important.

I’m an old man. But I have daughters and granddaughters.

[Carla (There Might Be Cupcakes Podcast) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He took my special away.”
—one of his many, many victims

I know what that feels like, I was near her age, 19, when I was violently sexually assaulted by my ex-boyfriend. Sister, I am 49 now, and I have it back, I promise. ♥️

This book is a must-read. Period. Nicole’s reporting is incredibly professional and in-depth, and her reading is top-notch.

[Richard Luck · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinarily courageous work. If you thought you knew the full extent of the Bill Cosby affair, Nicole Weisensee Egan reveals - to this reader, at least - new levels of unimaginable horror. This, however, is a hopeful book as it is a testament to bravery and resilience.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave it 5 stars because I know it is the truth.

[Diana Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent journalist's review of the evolving case and events.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

What a ride. I have gasped, grimaced, and been brought close to tears.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched. Sickening.

[Mark Robison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was riveted throughout this book. One of the things that made me set aside other books I was reading at the same time as this, including a serial-killer detective story, was how the legal system and the media failed women at nearly every step. The attempts to silence and explain away the stories of Cosby's 60+ victims were masterful.

Some random thoughts:

* Cosby used the same tactics over and over that, in a novel, you might think far-fetched and that only a Hannibal Lecter could pull off. He insinuated himself into his victims' families, according to their testimony. He'd befriend their moms, invite parents and siblings to concerts, take photos with them, call family members to check in on their welfare. This made it so much more difficult for the women to accuse him after he drugged and raped them.

* I learned even more than I knew before about the tactics that rapists and their supporters and attorneys will use against victims. After the assault, one of his victims spiraled down into depression and drug use. Cosby's defense attorney tried to use this against her, that she was an unreliable witness because of her personal dramas and problems, as if her behavior couldn't be explained from the trauma of being drugged by someone you trusted and raped.

* Cosby got a bunch of Quaaludes in the late 1960s because they were so good at knocking women out. They were outlawed in the U.S., but he'd acquired so many before this, that his stash lasted into the 1990s for use in his predatory attacks.

* The first case among the known accusers was a women who was raped as a virgin at age 17 in 1965. She didn't tell anyone until in her 70s and had lived almost her entire life suffering from crippling PTSD because of what Cosby did to her.

* The media -- especially national TV media -- would drop interviews with accusers in exchange for exclusive interviews with the celebrity Cosby, in a process called trading up.

* District attorney and would-be politician Bruce Castor had boatloads of evidence with which to bring forward a case against Cosby in 2005, with other victims corroborating his first public accuser. Instead, he victim-blamed and sided with Cosby in public news conferences. It was Castor's support of Cosby at the time that ultimately freed him after this book came out because Castor claimed he'd given Cosby immunity for testimony about drugging women, even though nothing was formalized, so that testimony shouldn't have been used against him.

* The author of this book had covered the 2005 accusations and interviewed Cosby's victims at the time, writing a front-page story about Cosby being accused of rape. Rather than celebrating her speaking truth to power, other journalists attacked or ignored her, preferring to stay on Cosby's good side.

The individual cases are fascinating by themselves, but what put this over the top for me was the compelling courtroom drama and strategies -- how the prosecution was so weak in Cosby's first trial and how it learned and presented a far better case the second time around -- and also the media maneuverings and how media outlets were manipulated by money and power.

My ratings for other books about high-profile rape cases:

* Know My Name: 5 stars
* Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators: 5 stars
* Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town: 5 stars
* She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement: 4 stars
* Black Box: 4 stars
* Violated: Exposing Rape at Baylor University amid College Football's Sexual Assault Crisis: 4 stars
* Roll Red Roll: Rape, Power, and Football in the American Heartland: 4 stars

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FULL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF COSBY, AND THE ULTIMATE TRIAL

Journalist Nicole Weisensee Egan wrote in the ‘Note from the Author’ of this 2019 book, “I first began covering this story on January 20, 2005, when news of Andrea Constand’s drugging and sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby first broke in Philadelphia. After Andrea settled her civil lawsuit with Bill Cosby in November 2006, thought the story was over… and the criminal case against him had been closed long ago. Yet for some reason I couldn’t throw away my voluminous Cosby files… When the case resurfaced in late 2014 and the number of new accusers kept climbing, I …lugged all of those files back up to my home office… Those notes and emails were so helpful when it same to recreating what happened in 2005, when I was the lone reporter investigating the allegations against Cosby.”

She adds in the Introduction, “I was still a believer in the Bill Cosby/Cliff Huxtable myth in 2005, when … I first heard that a woman had accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting her. Along with the rest of America, I was shocked…. But then my boss assigned me the story, and I began reporting… With every conversation, every interview, every new source, the validity of the charges came to light… Crimes had been committed, and it didn’t matter that the perpetrator was one of America’s most beloved cultural icons. The truth had to be revealed. So I wrote about the case…” (Pg. xi)

She continues, “I have wrestled with so many questions about Bill Cosby, and I still do… How could someone who’s done so much good in this world do so much evil at the same time? As a journalist, I wanted … facts and answers… And as a woman in America, I also have questions about the culture we live in. Why is there a visceral distrust of sexual assault claims… unlike any other violent crime? I explore all these questions in [this book] and offer my reflections as well as how fear, bullying, and intimidation helped silence these women… The Cosby story is a lens through which we can look inward at our own beliefs and prejudices and how it influences who we choose to believe and why, who we choose to idolize and why.” (Pg. xiv-xv)

She explains, “my newspaper was known as the ‘people paper,’ and … As a tabloid, we were used to being called ‘sensationalistic.’ But I knew we were ethical, and I liked that we were gutsy… In the end, it came down to this: if the big-establishment papers weren’t going to give sexual assault victims a voice against a powerful person, we would. And then we’d let the nighttime talk shows continue the conversation, spreading the story over the airwaves to cities across the country. Except then the TV show started retreating too. Cosby’s people were pressuring the bookers to stay away from the story and to keep me off their shows… Here’s how it works. A negative story about a powerful person is about to be released. The powerful person offers the media organization something enticing, like an exclusive interview… but only if they drop the negative story. I’d never heard of such tactics before I covered this case. It was disillusioning to say the least.” (Pg. 42-43)

About why Andrea Constand didn’t come forward earlier, Constand’s attorney said, “There are many reasons why women who are put in this situation do not come forward immediately… They feel they can no longer trust anyone. They feel shame. They feel fear, and this case was certainly compounded by the fact that the person who was accused by Bill Cosby, an icon in this area and certainly an icon at Temple where she worked.” (Pg. 71)

She notes, “a national Father’s Day poll revealed that Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable was TV’s ‘Number 1 Dad’ and the television father that adults would most like to have had while they were growing up… I should have been surprised the drugging and sexual assault scandal hadn’t left a mark… He’d spent decades nurturing that perception of him... But we now know that fourteen women total said he’d done unspeakable things to them…. How could all of these women be lying? More importantly, why would they lie? They had nothing to gain. It was discouraging. Could nothing affect his Teflon image?” (Pg. 72-73)

She reports, “On November 8, 2006, Andrea settled with Cosby for an undisclosed amount of money, and the suits were dismissed. Andrea made peace with the decision: already traumatized by having to relive the horrifying details of her assault in front of Cosby at her deposition while he made jokes and his attorney disparaged and sneered at her, this spared her from having to endure it all over again and in public.” (Pg. 81)

But in 2014, a standup comedian named Hannibal Buress called Cosby a rapist in his routine; and suddenly, the mass media took notice. A writer noted, “Without intending to, Buress became a perfect example of the conundrum of male allyship: it wasn’t enough 13 different women accused Cosby of drugging, raping and violently assaulting them. It was only after a famous man, Buress, called him out that the possibility of Cosby becoming a television pariah became real.” (Pg. 91-92) Yet “Cosby had not been taken down. Yes, his TV shows had been canceled or taken off the air, as had future comedy shows in casinos… [But] Cosby headlined a sold-out performance … and got not one but two standing ovations… despite a campaign from local radio hosts offering to pay hecklers $1000.” (Pg. 103)

She points out, “The fear that Cobsy’s guilt would topple a role model in their community … had some African American accusers wrestling with their decision to tell their stories. ‘I didn’t want to take this black icon down,’ African American model Jewel Allison … told me… she confessed, ‘It was hard for me to look other African American people in the eyes. On some level I felt that I had betrayed black America. And some of my African American friends seemed too hurt by the damage to Cosby’s image to offer me any support.” (Pg. 12-121)

She notes, “Cosby fought back against the suits, filing counter-defamation lawsuits against the seven accusers… He may have hoped his aggressive legal strategy would stop more women from coming forward with allegations about him---and it did just that. No new accusers revealed themselves after that. The total was now sixty-three.” (Pg. 146-147) Ultimately, the jury deadlocked. (Pg. 182-184)

But years later, “What I didn’t understand, though, was why Cosby’s accusers hadn’t triggered a movement in the way the #MeToo accusers had. Maybe it was because their story hadn’t been told first in the New York Times… Maybe it was [Gloria] Allred’s call for Cosby to create a $100 million fund for the victims, which made people question their motives for coming forward… Or maybe it was because none of the accusers were famous. [Harvey] Weinstein and some of the others were accused by women who were … celebrities in their own right who soon became celebrated for their brave uprising against institutional sexism and violence… But that was okay… Cosby would be the first powerful man accused of sexual misconduct to be tried in a post-#MeToo world.” (Pg. 196-197)

She states, “It quickly became clear to me… that this was a different trial and was being prosecuted more skillfully than the first. Even their sexual-assault expert was better, her testimony more on point.” (Pg. 207) After one witness, she mused, “It struck me that if a woman ‘seemed fine,’ there was a perception that the rape was no big deal. But not all scars were visible. Meanwhile, not only does society blame victims, but victims blame themselves as well.” (Pg. 208)

She recounts, “Prosecutor Kristen Feden eased Andrea into her testimony… And she asked that question that had never been asked of her publicly before: Why are you here? ‘For justice,’ Andrea replied. It was a powerful moment… Her testimony was far more detailed and graphic than it had been in the first trial, and it was more emotionally gripping too… she became visibly sadder as she talked about … why she went to the police. ‘I didn’t want it to happen to anyone else… I really wanted to know what Mr. Cosby gave me and why he did that to me.’ … [The defense attorney] asked her why she signed off on a provision in which Cosby admitted no guilt for what he did to her. ‘It was a very painstaking process for my family,’ she testified. ‘It tore my family apart, and we just wanted it to be over.’” (Pg. 218-219)

She continues, “The prosecution took its turn next… Cosby seemed to find her amusing, chuckling as she defended the victims. ‘He’s laughing like it’s funny!’ Feden said, outraged. She flew across the room and glared at him. ‘But there’s absolutely nothing funny about drugging a woman. There’s nothing funny about THAT, Mr. Cosby. There’s nothing funny about no permission, and there’s nothing funny about intoxicating an individual so he can get what he’s after.’ It was a powerful moment and one that was clearly unrehearsed. How in the world could you predict Cosby’s laughter?” (Pg. 225)

During deliberations, “The jury sent a note to the judge, requesting a definition of the word [‘consent’]… the judge advised the jury to define the word for themselves. In the end they went without defining it at all. ‘Cosby did not deny performing the act of penetration,’ [one of them] said. ‘Constand said explicitly that she did not consent.’ That was key. In Pennsylvania, in sexual assault cases, believing the victim, finding her credible, is enough to convict.” (Pg. 229) Ultimately, after only fourteen hours of deliberations, “The votes were unanimous on all three offenses.” (Pg. 230)

She notes, “Several days later Camille Cosby… lashed out at the media, at … the entire prosecution team. She compared her husband’s case to that of Emmett Till… ‘I am asking for a criminal investigation of that district attorney and his cohorts. This is a homogeneous group of exploitative and corrupt people whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life. If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone.’ I struggled with this message… There’s no doubt the criminal justice system is vicious to black men… for black men serving time for sexual assault, they are three and a half times more likely to be innocent than white defendants… And yet… that wasn’t the case here. There was no mistaking Cosby for someone else… All I knew was that race is an entrenched injustice in our country and that it was a sensibility Camille held onto---tightly.” (Pg. 233-234) Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in a state prison, bail denied.

She concludes, “Andrea can rest now. And she can go to sleep each night knowing she helped not only all the others who Cosby victimized but also all the sexual assault victims out there who haven’t seen justice. Cases like hers are hard to win. But she proved it can be done.” (Pg. 249)

This book will be “must reading” for those studying Cosby’s case.