As almost anyone who knows me will attest, I am not a Bill Cosby defender. I wrote a long post weeks ago explaining why
I think the 77-year-old mega-star is guilty. But I've also acknowledged that not all the women may be telling the truth. Some may be pilers-on for whatever reason.
Piler-on: a person, for instance, who
hears about a big, public bus accident, claims they were injured in the accident, but later it's discovered that the person wasn't actually on the bus. That's where I see the 24-year-old
Chloe Goins. The bus wreck here is the rape and sexual assault accusations exploding against Cosby, and Goins, or maybe someone behind Goins, is trying to cash in. She's piling on. (I apologize Ms. Goins if I'm wrong about you, but I'm saying what I fee.)
Her accusation that Cosby drugged and possibly molested her at the
Playboy Mansion when she was 18 feels off, and that it happened in 2008--
on the cusp of probable statutes of limitations expiration--seems rather convenient.
Goins is not saying that Cosby raped her. I want to make that clear. So, she's not taking on the stigma of being a rape victim. She says
she can't be sure what Cosby (allegedly) did to her but alleges that she woke up to find him masturbating while licking her toes. The timing of her allegation after so many others whose allegations are beyond prosecution flashes like a big red light in my head.
Again for emphasis, my distrust of her is strictly a gut feeling. She could be telling the absolute truth, and like many victims of sexual assault or molestation, she may not have come forward because she was afraid. Cosby is a powerful, older man after all, and she, just six years ago, was a naive girl at the Playboy Mansion possibly afraid no one would believe her for no other reason than she was at the
Playboy Mansion. But of all the women who've come forward, she's the one who strikes me as someone who, after having read all the other accusations, had time to think and manufacture a similar testimony.
Also, of all the other women, Goins seems the most like someone who could turn her accusation into a bonanza. She's white, young, and attractive with that bleached blonde, starlet vibe. Or as Prince could have said to someone like her, "U got the look." She may have more to gain with this accusation and with time before the cameras than she has to lose.
Interestingly, in an interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC, her attorney, Spencer Kurvin, made
a comment last night that indicates he's aware that Goins has a lot to gain. He seemed not to include his client when he spoke of the other women who had come forward with
nothing to gain. However he did say that his client risks criminal prosecution for false reporting if it's shown that her story is not true and taking that risk, as well as enduring the emotional difficulty of making such an accusation, gives her credibility.
His comments aside, when I say Goins is attractive, I'm not talking strictly about physical attractiveness. I'm talking about her appearing to be a carefully crafted marketing package, a "commodity." In the picture to the left, as she stands before photographers outside the LAPD building, she has the style and composure of someone with a smoothly constructed public image to maintain.
She also seems like someone who would understand that no matter how her case turns out--Cosby guilty or not guilty--a book deal and celebrity status may be right around the corner.
No, I'm not saying she's a slut nor am I attempting to shame her for her past as
Radar Online and others seem determined to do. I'm saying she impresses me in this moment as an opportunist.
Okay. So, take away my feminist card!
Can I be wrong here? Of course I can. Will I be sorry to learn from facts that her story is true? Yes, I will because that will mean she's been abused. If her story is true, then I feel truly sorry for her. No woman should have her body touched sexually without her permission.
And I even admit now that I may be biased against her because she has that stereotypical lean and hungry look for fame. But just as I've shared my opinion on Cosby, I'm sharing it on her accusation. Fishy, fishy, fishy. Cosby is probably guilty of molesting some other woman, but I doubt that he's guilty of molesting Goins. And I usually lean toward giving victims of alleged sexual assault the benefit of the doubt.
On another note, you'd think by now Cosby could have found the accuser with the shakiest story and offered her money to recant. A recanter would cast a shadow on all his accusers, appearing to confirm the suspicions of the Cosby faithful, even some of the Cosby wobbly. They are desperate for anything they can find to logically discredit accusers of America's Dad.
Some Cosby apologists have concocted intricate conspiracy theories about the allegations. (I stress allegations because Bill Cosby has not been charged with any crime.) I've heard everything from the women plotted together to get his money to the mainstream media planned the whole thing because they live to bring black men down. I've even heard that white supremacists have brainwashed black people who believe the women. Yep. I've heard such craziness. Somebody, please, please make it stop.
Thanks to Teachbx, who commented on 