Bill Cosby broke his silence Friday, albeit briefly, to lecture the media on remaining “neutral” and to say that his wife is standing by him.
Reached at his Massachusetts home, the star declined to address the rape and sex abuse allegations from an ever-growing list of women that now includes supermodel Beverly Johnson.
Instead, Cosby, 77, said that the African-American media — for which this reporter often writes — should be impartial.
“Let me say this. I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind,” Cosby said.
The comedian, who is being represented by attorneys Martin Singer and John B. Schmitt, said he has been advised not to talk to reporters about the ongoing allegations. More than two dozen women have publicly claimed that the “Fat Albert” creator drugged and raped them.
The allegations span at least four decades, beginning in the 1960s.
Johnson, who auditioned for the “The Cosby Show” in the 1980s, alleges that Cosby put drugs in her cappuccino after he invited her to his New York brownstone to rehearse lines for an episode on his hit NBC television show. While Johnson didn’t accuse Cosby of rape, she said she didn’t know what his intentions were after spiking her drink.
Cosby sounded upbeat on the phone, but said he couldn’t address the specific allegations.
He did, however, wax poetic when asked how his wife of more than a half-century, Camille Cosby, was holding up under the strain of the allegations.
“Love and the strength of womanhood,” he said. “Let me say it again, love and the strength of womanhood. And, you could reverse it, the strength of womanhood and love.”
Then Cosby cut off the conversation. “They don’t want me talking to the media,” he said.