--- description: Bill Cosby was found guilty on Thursday. His case predates the #MeToo movement—but his conviction is inspiring to anyone seeking justice. title: Bill Cosby's Conviction Is an Unexpected Win for #MeToo. But There's a Long Way to Go image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt355cbab502db1347/69892ecddb29874baf25f800/bill-cosby-guilty.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 * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bill Cosby's Conviction Is an Unexpected Win for #MeToo. But There's a Long Way to Go  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 26, 2018 6:49 PM CUT  Bill Cosby walks after it was announced a verdict is in at the Montgomery County Courthouse for day fourteen of his sexual assault retrial on April 26, 2018 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. A former Temple University employee alleges that the entertainer drugged and molested her in 2004 at his home in suburban Philadelphia. More than 40 women have accused the 80 year old entertainer of sexual assault. Bill Cosby walks after it was announced a verdict is in at the Montgomery County Courthouse for day fourteen of his sexual assault retrial on April 26, 2018 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. A former Temple University employee alleges that the entertainer drugged and molested her in 2004 at his home in suburban Philadelphia. More than 40 women have accused the 80 year old entertainer of sexual assault.Mark Makela—Getty Images  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 26, 2018 6:49 PM CUT Thursday brought news that many observers thought they’d never see: real legal repercussions for Bill Cosby. The comedian and _Cosby Show_ actor was [found guilty of three counts of sexual assault](http://time.com/5256243/bill-cosby-trial/ "undefined") against Andrea Constand in 2004\. He faces up to 30 years at prison, effectively a life sentence for the 80-year-old celebrity. Bill Cosby’s conviction, rendered in a Pennsylvania court after a 2017 mistrial, takes place against the backdrop of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements but is not entirely of it. Bill Cosby’s accusers had been publicly known for years before reporting on Harvey Weinstein in the _New York Times_ and _New Yorker_ kicked off a global reckoning around assault and misogyny.[ Thirty-five Cosby accusers appeared together](https://www.thecut.com/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html "undefined") on the cover of _New York_ magazine in 2015, with an empty chair left to represent other women who might come forward in the future. But that the case predated our recent, accelerated conversation also meant that its milestones came painfully slowly. Cosby’s behaviors—drugging and raping women—[were written about in _People_ in 2006](http://people.com/archive/bill-cosby-under-fire-vol-66-no-25/ "undefined") and [joked about on _30 Rock_ in 2009](http://ew.com/article/2016/02/19/30-rock-bill-cosby-joke-carlock/ "undefined"). They were known in some circles, but remained the sort of story one expects to never reach the mainstream, let alone catharsis. The sheer number of accusers willing to come forward in the wake of an attention-getting comedy set by Hannibal Buress in 2014 ([Buress said, in part, “you rape women, Bill Cosby”](http://time.com/3525865/hannibal-buress-bill-cosby/ "undefined")) eventually forced the case into public consciousness. But at times those accusers seem less powerful than Cosby’s image. Everyone knew about a story, but the mere act of knowing seemed to lack consequence. Though on-camera opportunities for Bill Cosby dried up, he continued to perform comedy before his fans; after his mistrial, a [spokesman for the comic declared](http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/06/jury%5Fdeadlocks%5Fin%5Fbill%5Fcosby%5Ft.html "undefined") “Cosby’s power is back.” Cosby losing his power on Thursday didn’t indicate, specifically, a victory for a movement that gained steam years after news of Cosby’s misdeeds first reached critical mass. But it was animated by the spirit of all who seek justice—and a sense of quite how far those people have to go. The past months have [revealed many more Cosbys](http://time.com/5015204/harvey-weinstein-scandal/ "undefined"), public figures about whom much had previously been suspected or surmised and whom we now know to be something worse than lecherous. Real legal consequences have not yet fallen upon them. Even after Cosby was unmasked, it took nearly half a decade to bring him to account in the courtroom. It’s a timeline that suggests the changes wrought by the #MeToo movement are only just beginning. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5256322/bill-cosby-conviction-me-too/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5256322/bill-cosby-conviction-me-too/"},"headline":"Bill Cosby's Conviction Is an Unexpected Win for #MeToo. But There's a Long Way to Go","datePublished":"2018-04-26T18:49:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:06:08.733Z","description":"Bill Cosby was found guilty on Thursday. His case predates the #MeToo movement—but his conviction is inspiring to anyone seeking justice.","url":"https://time.com/5256322/bill-cosby-conviction-me-too/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt355cbab502db1347/69892ecddb29874baf25f800/bill-cosby-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt355cbab502db1347/69892ecddb29874baf25f800/bill-cosby-guilty.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jury Finds Bill Cosby Guilty In Retrial","caption":"Jury Finds Bill Cosby Guilty In Retrial","creditText":"Mark Makela—Getty Images","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/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5256322/bill-cosby-conviction-me-too/","name":"Bill Cosby's Conviction Is an Unexpected Win for #MeToo. But There's a Long Way to Go"}}]}] ```