Bill Cosby said he had a “wonderful time” and got a standing ovation from polite Canadian fans at his first show following a string of cancelations in the wake of sexual assault allegations from more than 15 women.
Protesters outside braved below-freezing weather in a bid to shame the ticket-holders as they streamed in and were likely to do so again at the second of three performances in Ontario yesterday.
Cosby’s show in Kitchener was his first show since November last year when the entertainer saw at least 10 performances get canceled on his North American tour.
Photo: Reuters
Like his last show in Melbourne, Florida, on Nov. 21 there were no disruptions during the performance and the crowd laughed throughout.
Wearing a sweater saying “hello friend,” Cosby took to the stage decorated with two giant posters of him with former South African president Nelson Mandela.
“First of all thank you,” Cosby said to the audience before starting his routine with some cold-weather jokes.
He left to a standing ovation that was somewhat slow to start.
“Dear Fans: I would like to personally thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring laughter back into your lives tonight,” Cosby said in a statement issued by his publicist following the show.
“Also, I would like to applaud all of you and give you a standing ovation for respecting yourselves, the theater [Centre In The Square] and the event organizers that produced a spectacular show for the Kitchener Community,” the statement said.
Some ticket-holders had said they would boycott the performance, and the 2,000-seat venue was about two-thirds full. Several police officers and private security guards were posted throughout.
Outside the Centre in the Square, more than a dozen protesters carried signs saying “rape is no joke.”
Some shouted “you support rape” and “shame on you” at people going into the theater.
A few protesters blocked the doors of the venue until being asked to leave by security.
Fans defended Cosby as they arrived.
“I’m skeptical of all the accusations,” Gerald Reinink said. “I always loved Cosby, good family humor. Why are 20 women coming out now when it’s 20, 30 years ago?”
Dan Emerson said he was glad there were no hecklers inside the venue.
“Innocent until proven guilty. I hope it’s not true and until I know otherwise I love him to death,” Emerson said.
Cosby, 77, was also scheduled to appear at the Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, on Thursday and at the Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario, today.
The comedian, who starred as Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, earning a reputation as “America’s Dad,” has never been charged in connection with any of the sexual assault allegations.
A 2005 lawsuit by a Pennsylvania woman was settled before it went to trial, and he is being sued by a woman who claims he molested her in 1974 and by three other women who allege they were defamed by the comedian when his representatives denied some of the allegations.
Most of the women claim that the comedian drugged them before he assaulted them.
Hours before Cosby took the stage, attorney Gloria Allred said three more women are accusing the comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting them in Las Vegas or Los Angeles between 1981 and 1996. Allred said at a news conference in Los Angeles that the accusations are too old for criminal charges or lawsuits.
Phylicia Rashad, who played Cliff Huxtable’s wife Claire on The Cosby Show, defended her costar in an interview on Wednesday with ABC’s World News Tonight.
Rashad said she believed the allegations are part of a campaign to ruin Cosby’s legacy.
“He’s a genius. He is generous, he’s kind, he’s inclusive,” said Rashad, who first spoke to Roger Friedman earlier this week for his Showbiz911 blog. “This is not about the women. This is about something else. This is about the obliteration of legacy.”
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