--- description: Fey took jabs at Cosby on both 'SNL' and '30 Rock' years ago title: Watch Tina Fey Joke About Bill Cosby Rape Allegations on SNL in 2005 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Tina Fey Joke About Bill Cosby Rape Allegations on _SNL_ in 2005  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 5, 2014 4:08 PM CUT  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Dec 5, 2014 4:08 PM CUT Though media outlets have taken action against Bill Cosby in the last month following public allegations of rape against him, Tina Fey was calling out Cosby _long_ before the the comedian’s shows were cancelled or his reruns pulled. In a 2005 Weekend Update bit on _Saturday Night Live_, Fey and co-anchor Amy Poehler joked about a lawsuit that alleged Cosby had tried to molest a California lawyer. Both Poehler and Fey did their best impressions of the comedian since Kenan Thompson, who starred in Cosby’s _Fat Albert_ movie, could not — “because of the _Fat Albert_ and the money and the sequels.” Kenan ran out after the bit and joked, “I didn’t say any of that because Kenan Thompson loves to work, OK?” Though Kenan’s hesitation to make fun of Bill Cosby was played for laughs, the punchline speaks to the reason it took so long for people in the industry to criticize Cosby — a powerful comedian with an intimidating legacy. **MORE:** [Here’s What Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock Think of the Bill Cosby Scandal](http://time.com/3618542/jerry-seinfeld-chris-rock-bill-cosby/ "undefined") Not so for Fey, who took a jab at Cosby again [in 2009](http://time.com/3615987/bill-cosby-sexual-assault-allegations-30-rock/ "undefined") on her show _30 Rock_. In an episode called “The Bubble,” Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) threatens to quit TGS, and Jack (Alec Baldwin) tries to lure him back. One strategy Jack uses is getting a coworker to do a Bill Cosby impression on the phone. But when he hears the Cosby impression, Tracy becomes enraged: “Bill Cosby, you got a lotta nerve gettin’ on the phone wit’ me after what you did to my Aunt Paulette!” he yells. When the confused impressionist says Tracy must be confusing him with someone else, Tracy shoots back, “1971\. Cincinnati. She was a cocktail waitress with the droopy eye!” Many missed the joke when it was initially made: Tracy often spewed nonsensical comments on the show. And the dig is subtle (again, perhaps because of the pressure to respect Cosby in the media). Tracy doesn’t come right out and say that Cosby assaulted his aunt, but in light of recent allegations that Cosby often drugged and then raped young women, that’s certainly what the joke is referencing. Though it took many years, criticism from people inside the industry like Fey may have helped to empower Cosby’s alleged victims to speak out about what happened to them. It was Hannibal Burress, a _30 Rock_ writing alum, who helped kick off the recent Cosby debate with a [stand-up routine](http://www.vulture.com/2014/10/hannibal-buress-called-bill-cosby-a-rapist.html "undefined") he did on Cosby that circulated in October. Burress was not writing for _30 Rock_ in 2009 and had no hand in the Cosby joke on the show. But by forcing people to acknowledge what Cosby did (in explicit terms), he moved along a conversation that Fey was having almost a decade ago. **MORE:** [Bill Cosby’s Lawyer Fights Back Against Sexual Assault Suit](http://time.com/3619452/bill-cosbys-lawyer-fights-back-against-sexual-assault-suit/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3620097/tina-fey-bill-cosby-rape-allegations-snl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3620097/tina-fey-bill-cosby-rape-allegations-snl/"},"headline":"Watch Tina Fey Joke About Bill Cosby Rape Allegations on SNL in 2005","datePublished":"2014-12-05T16:08:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:25.288Z","description":"Fey took jabs at Cosby on both SNL and 30 Rock years ago","url":"https://time.com/3620097/tina-fey-bill-cosby-rape-allegations-snl/","keywords":["Living","Sexual Assault","tina fey","SNL","Bill Cosby topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3620097/tina-fey-bill-cosby-rape-allegations-snl/","name":"Watch Tina Fey Joke About Bill Cosby Rape Allegations on SNL in 2005"}}]}] ```