NEW YORK — NBC has scrapped a Bill Cosby comedy that was under development and TV Land will stop airing reruns of “The Cosby Show,” moves that came a day after another woman came forward claiming that the comedian had sexually assaulted her.
NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks said Wednesday the Cosby sitcom “is no longer under development.” A TV Land spokesperson said “The Cosby Show” will stop airing immediately.
Both the NBC sitcom and Netflix’s Cosby standup comedy special, which has been indefinitely postponed, were halted within a day after actress Janice Dickinson, in an interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” became the third woman in recent weeks to allege she had been assaulted by Cosby.
Cosby’s lawyer, Martin Singer, said in a letter to The Associated Press that Dickinson’s charges were “false and outlandish” and were contradicted by Dickinson herself in a published autobiography. Cosby’s spokesman, David Brokaw, has not returned calls for comment.
The developments, which involve allegations that were widely reported on a decade ago as well as new accusations, have threatened the 77-year-old comedian’s reputation at a time when he was launching a comeback. A year ago, a standup special aired on Comedy Central and drew a hefty audience of 2 million viewers. His prospective new series was announced by NBC in January.
Cosby has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations. Former Pennsylvania prosecutor Bruce L. Castor Jr., who investigated a woman’s claims that Cosby had sexually assaulted her in 2004, said Wednesday he decided not to prosecute Cosby because he thought there was not enough evidence to get a conviction.
“I wrote my opinion in such a way as I thought conveyed to the whole world that I thought he had done it, he had just gotten away with it because of a lack of evidence,” Castor said.
Cosby has at least 35 performances scheduled in the U.S. and Canada through May, including two in January in Denver. None of the performances has been canceled.
