--- title: Bill Cosby: Group Demands White House Revoke Medal of Freedom description: The comedian was awarded the medal in 2002. canonical: https://time.com/3950555/bill-cosby-white-house-revoke-presidential-medal/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-09T01:10:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:26:04.204Z article:section: Politics og:title: Group Demands President Obama Revoke Bill Cosby Medal og:description: The comedian was awarded the medal in 2002 og:url: https://time.com/3950555/bill-cosby-white-house-revoke-presidential-medal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696397ddff392cbd/69885a2fe53aba56fb4de869/cosby-medal-of-freedom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Actor Comedian Bill Cosby jokes with baseball great Hank Aaron after they both received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award from President George W. Bush during a ceremony on July 9, 2002 at the White House in Washington. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Group Demands President Obama Revoke Bill Cosby Medal twitter:description: The comedian was awarded the medal in 2002 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696397ddff392cbd/69885a2fe53aba56fb4de869/cosby-medal-of-freedom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Group Demands President Obama Revoke Bill Cosby Medal > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2d80bc99-d9fb-449b-a464-8ea68513aa50&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Bill Cosby Admitted in 2005 to Buying Drugs to Give to Women [Watch (HLS stream): Bill Cosby Admitted in 2005 to Buying Drugs to Give to Women](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VEIkPLsL.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2015-07-06. According to an AP investigation, Bill Cosby testified during a 2005 court case that he had purchased sedatives with the intent to give them to women._  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Jul 9, 2015 1:10 AM UTC  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Jul 9, 2015 1:10 AM UTC A sexual violence awareness group is demanding that the White House revoke Bill Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, in light of the sexual assault allegations against him. “The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest award bestowed on civilians for their contributions to society,” states [a petition started by the group Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment (PAVE)](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/revoke-presidential-medal-freedom-bill-cosby), which had received several hundred signatures as of Wednesday evening. “Bill Cosby does not deserve to be on the list of distinguished recipients.” Cosby received the medal in 2002 from President George W. Bush. Revoking the medal would be unprecedented, according to the White House, but PAVE’s founder, Angela Rose, believes it’s necessary in this case. “The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest honor to any American civilian, and Bill Cosby’s name does not belong on it,” Rose told TIME. The Chicago-based group takes issue with the fact that “Cosby admitted to procuring drugs to have sex with women without their consent,” according to PAVE’s petition. Sen. Claire McCaskill supports PAVE’s petition. “I don’t think that somebody who has admitted to doing that deserves a medal of any kind,” she [told the St. Louis](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gateway-to-dc/mccaskill-says-she-d-support-effort-to-take-back-cosby/article%5F0a211d1c-b8e7-5eb6-8a71-0ad6fedf7a73.html?utm%5Fmedium=twitter&utm%5Fsource=twitterfeed) _Post-Dispatch_. The group’s demand is just the latest twist in the allegations that Cosby repeatedly drugged and raped women, after previously sealed court documents that were released this week showed that Cosby admitted to getting quaaludes to give to women he wanted to seduce. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said he hadn’t heard about PAVE’s petition. “I haven’t, at this point, heard any discussion of taking that step,” he said, [according to _USA Today_.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/08/cosby-obama-medal-of-freedom/29873965/) “I don’t know whether or not it’s legally possible to do so.” ## Transcript Comedian Bill Cosby, who's been plagued for months by accusations of sexual assault, has previously admitted to obtaining and using sedatives with the intent of giving them to young women. An AP investigation into a 2005 lawsuit against Cosby Uncovered testimony from the comedian in which he admitted to obtaining quaaludes and planning to give them to women he wanted to have sex with. The latest revelations add to a growing list of scandals for Cosby. Over two dozen women claim to have been drugged and raped by the comedian over the course of his decades long career. Since most of those alleged incidents occurred past the statute of limitations this latest wave hasn't resulted in criminal charges. The 2005 case is likely to be no different. Cosby settle out of court in 2006 for an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit was filed by a former employee of Temple University, Cosby's Alma Matter. Cosby was a frequent supporter of Temple, but stepped down from the school's Board of Trustees in December in the midst of the allegations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3950555/bill-cosby-white-house-revoke-presidential-medal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3950555/bill-cosby-white-house-revoke-presidential-medal/"},"headline":"Group Demands President Obama Revoke Bill Cosby Medal","datePublished":"2015-07-09T01:10:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:26:04.204Z","description":"The comedian was awarded the medal in 2002","url":"https://time.com/3950555/bill-cosby-white-house-revoke-presidential-medal/","keywords":["White House","U.S.","entertainment","Bill Cosby"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696397ddff392cbd/69885a2fe53aba56fb4de869/cosby-medal-of-freedom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt696397ddff392cbd/69885a2fe53aba56fb4de869/cosby-medal-of-freedom.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Actor Comedian Bill Cosby jokes with baseball great Hank Aaron after they both received the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award from President George W. 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