NBC is developing a sitcom with Bill Cosby, but considering the serious allegations against the star, the project is likely to be scrapped.
Variety reports that NBC is being pressured to make a decision about the future of their untitled sitcom project set to star Bill Cosby.
The 77-year-old comedian has been under fire after several rape allegations have been made against him by different women; most recently, a woman came forward to claim that she was drugged and raped by Cosby 45 years ago.
No legal charges have yet been filed against Cosby, and his lawyer John P. Schmitt has officially denied the claims in a statement posted on the actor’s website:
Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment,” the statement reads. “He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives.
According to Variety, similar allegations have “dogged the comedian for years,” but it is only recently that women have begun to step forward with specific claims.
Cosby was taken to court over a sexual assault charge in 2005, but the suit was settled out of court.
While NBC has not yet made a statement about the future of their Cosby comedy, it is unlikely that the sitcom will go ahead, considering the gravity of the allegations.
Bill Cosby has done a lot for NBC in the past, bringing them the wildly successful The Cosby Show in the 1980s.
If NBC does not order the show to pilot, the network is set to pay the comedian a sizeable penalty.
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