--- description: The Navy has revoked Bill Cosby's honorary title in light of allegations he sexually assaulted a string of women over decades title: Navy Revokes Bill Cosby's Honorary Title Amid Sex Assault Claims image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt490c68b60ab888db/698769aa0b72e3727b6dc03d/bill-cosby5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Navy Revokes Bill Cosby's Honorary Title Amid Sex Assault Claims by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2014 8:23 PM CUT  Bill Cosby during an interview about the upcoming exhibit "Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue," at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C. on Nov. 6, 2014 Bill Cosby during an interview about the upcoming exhibit "Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue," at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C. on Nov. 6, 2014Evan Vucci—AP by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 4, 2014 8:23 PM CUT The Navy has revoked Bill Cosby’s honorary title in light of allegations he sexually assaulted a string of women over decades. “The Navy is taking this action because allegations against Mr. Cosby are very serious and are in conflict with the Navy’s core values of honor, courage and commitment,” Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in a statement. The comedian — who spent four years in the Navy — was given the title of honorary Chief Petty Officer in 2011. [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title-amid-sex-assault-claims-n261691 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3618951/navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3618951/navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title/"},"headline":"Navy Revokes Bill Cosby's Honorary Title Amid Sex Assault Claims","datePublished":"2014-12-04T20:23:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:35:32.230Z","description":"Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called the allegations \"very serious\"","url":"https://time.com/3618951/navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt490c68b60ab888db/698769aa0b72e3727b6dc03d/bill-cosby5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt490c68b60ab888db/698769aa0b72e3727b6dc03d/bill-cosby5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bill Cosby during an interview about the upcoming exhibit, Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington. ON NOV. 6, 2014.","caption":"Bill Cosby during an interview about the upcoming exhibit, Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington. ON NOV. 6, 2014.","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3618951/navy-revokes-bill-cosbys-honorary-title/","name":"Navy Revokes Bill Cosby's Honorary Title Amid Sex Assault Claims"}}]}] ```