Bill Cosby

‘The Cosby Show’ star is going to jail for a 2004 sexual assault.

As the long-awaited sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby takes hold, more institutions are cutting past ties with the comedian. Following his expulsion from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Cosby will now have two prior Kennedy Center honors stricken from the record.

Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 1978. The allegations against Cosby go back just as far, though he was only formally convicted of felony sexual assault last week.

After years of allegations from dozens of women, comedian and television icon Bill Cosby has finally been found guilty of sexual assault.

For years now, America has been struggling with the allegations that Bill Cosby  —  once a beloved television father and comedian  —  may have used his position in Hollywood to commit a series of violent sexual assaults. For those unfamiliar with the timeline involved in the Cosby case, I would encourage you to check out ABC’s detailed recap of everything that led up to this past month’s trial, including the civil cases brought against the actor-comedian and the Hannibal Burgess joke that is widely regarded as the instigating event in bringing these accusations to the public. And today, as noted by Deadline, a Norristown, PA jury has forced the judge to declare a mistrial in Andrea Costand’s case against Cosby.

There are tons of hilarious Black movies. They’ve made three of the Barbershop movies, Kevin Hart can’t seem to stay out of theaters, and we could rattle off an endless array of Eddie Murphy quotes from films. But what are the best? What are the movies that you can’t go to any BBQ or hair salon without hearing quotes and references? There are almost too many to consider, but we whittled it down to ten. These are our picks for the funniest Black comedies of all time.

Just last week, a profile of Eddie Murphy shed light on his declining the role of Bill Cosby for SNL’s 40th anniversary event, citing his disinterest with denigrating the fallen idol any further. That pudding appears to have spilled however, as Murphy put on his best Cosby to accept the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize.

For as much hype as SNL garnered in returning so many past alum for its 40th anniversary special, Eddie Murphy’s long-awaited return seemed curiously brief. Norm MacDonald since explained that the revered comedian had declined to portray Bill Cosby in the all-star Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, and now Murphy himself explains the decision.

Prior to the many pieces, victims and testimony cementing Bill Cosby’s status as a reviled public figure, the comedian had almost reached the cusp of a comeback, planning a new NBC series and a Netflix standup special. Netflix was quick to shelve plans to release the special once Cosby’s deeds became a national focus, and now the streaming service doesn’t ever believe it “appropriate” to air.

When I was a little kid, Bill Cosby was someone who I (and many others) looked at as a person to aspire to be. He was the epitome of “good.” Looking back, I should have just stuck with Spider-Man and Han Solo—fictional characters have a way of not turning out to be alleged serial rapists—but this was the reality for many children of the ‘80s. I realize how stupid this sounds now. Human being are flawed (or much, much worse), but eight year olds don’t really think like that.