Fond Cosby Memories Take Another Beating
The family of the late Ben Ali, who founded Ben's in the 1950s, has stayed loyal to their long-time customer. But, one wonders, for how long?
Now whenever I drive past Ben's on my way to Washington's more nationally famous landmark buildings, I see a different Cosby than I used to see up on that wall.
I still see his big smiling face, captured from his earlier decades as a star of stage, screen, TV and comedy albums. But these days I wonder if we, the public, will ever see him smile that broadly again. Will we ever be able to laugh with him again, not just at him?
I raised that question months ago as one woman after another came forth to tell one damning story after another of an allegedly predatory Cosby. Actual criminal prosecution makes bad matters worse for Cosby image. If his reputation was on a slide before, felony charges send it over a cliff.
Many other questions, legal and otherwise, remain to be answered. It was not clear, for example, what impact the criminal case would have on the settlement reached in a civil suit that Constand filed against Cosby.
In 2005 and 2006, Constand's lawsuit led to his talking about their relationship in a lengthy deposition that may now be used against him. So might testimony from some of his other accusers.
Of course, Cosby is legally innocent until proved guilty in a court of law, but the court of public opinion is nowhere near that patient or even-handed. The paradox of Cosby's self-reinvention since 2004 as a morality and self-help spokesman makes him all the more vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy.
That's a hard fall from which to recover, even if he somehow beats the current charges against him. Like one of Ben's chili dogs, you probably can stick a fork in his career. It's done.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
