--- title: Bill Cosby: Actor Briefly Breaks His Silence to Lecture Media description: Actor and comedian Bill Cosby, accused of sexual assault, briefly breaks his silence to lecture the media canonical: https://time.com/3632940/bill-cosby-briefly-talks-sex-assault-allegations/ author: Entertainment Weekly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-14T17:15:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:50:35.553Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Bill Cosby Briefly Breaks His Silence og:description: He explains why he hasn't responded sex assault allegations og:url: https://time.com/3632940/bill-cosby-briefly-talks-sex-assault-allegations/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt490c68b60ab888db/698769aa0b72e3727b6dc03d/bill-cosby5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 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. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Cosby Briefly Breaks His Silence twitter:description: He explains why he hasn't responded sex assault allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt490c68b60ab888db/698769aa0b72e3727b6dc03d/bill-cosby5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill Cosby Briefly Breaks His Silence ## Video: More Bill Cosby Accusers Come Forward [Watch (HLS stream): More Bill Cosby Accusers Come Forward](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QU2PeS1t.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2014-11-22. Despite several more women now accusing the comedian of sexual assault or rape, Cosby still received a standing ovation at a sold out show Friday night._ by [Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Entertainment Weekly Dec 14, 2014 5:15 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 [Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Entertainment Weekly Dec 14, 2014 5:15 PM CUT Over the past four weeks, [multiple women](http://news-briefs.ew.com/tag/bill-cosby/ "undefined") have come forward claiming Bill Cosby drugged and/or sexually assaulted them. But the comedian hasn’t issued any sort of response to these claims—because, predictably, his lawyers don’t want him to. “They don’t want me talking to the media,” Cosby said [in a brief phone interview with ](http://pagesix.com/2014/12/13/cosby-to-media-stay-neutral-despite-rape-allegations/ "undefined")[_Page Six_](http://pagesix.com/2014/12/13/cosby-to-media-stay-neutral-despite-rape-allegations/ "undefined")Friday_._ In that interview, the comedian did briefly touch on the accusations, albeit vaguely: “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,” he told _Page Six._ This isn’t the first time Cosby’s had some words for the media—in November, [he told ](http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/11/21/bill-cosby-to-florida-today-i-wont-mention-allegations/19367957/ "undefined")[_Florida Today_](http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/11/21/bill-cosby-to-florida-today-i-wont-mention-allegations/19367957/ "undefined")that people need to “fact check.” “I know people are tired of me not saying anything,” he told the newspaper. “People should fact check. People shouldn’t have to go through that and shouldn’t answer to innuendos.” At this point, over 20 women, including models [Beverly Johnson](http://news-briefs.ew.com/2014/12/11/bill-cosby-beverly-johnson/ "undefined") and [Janice Dickinson](http://news-briefs.ew.com/2014/11/19/janice-dickinson-bill-cosby-sexual-assault/ "undefined"), have accused Cosby of assault. [_This article originally appeared on EW.com_](http://news-briefs.ew.com/2014/12/14/bill-cosby-page-six-statement-media/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3632940/bill-cosby-briefly-talks-sex-assault-allegations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3632940/bill-cosby-briefly-talks-sex-assault-allegations/"},"headline":"Bill Cosby Briefly Breaks His Silence","datePublished":"2014-12-14T17:15:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:50:35.553Z","description":"He explains why he hasn't responded sex assault allegations","url":"https://time.com/3632940/bill-cosby-briefly-talks-sex-assault-allegations/","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":"Entertainment Weekly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/entertainment-weekly/"}],"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. 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