On Wednesday, without explanation, the nostalgia-oriented cable network TV Land removed The Cosby Show from its lineup. The move capped a devastating week for Bill Cosby's late-career comeback, with new sexual assault allegations prompting Netflix to shelve an upcoming Cosby stand-up comedy special and NBC officially pulling the plug on a high-profile Cosby prime time sitcom. That show "is no longer under development," NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks confirmed Wednesday.
Cosby, 77, has at least 25 scheduled stand-up shows in the U.S. and Canada through next May, and none has been canceled, The Associated Press reports, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art says it has no plans to end its exhibition of Cosby's African American art collection. Cosby, through his lawyers, denies the allegations of the three women who have come forward in recent weeks, and none of the charges has been proven in court, but it's hard to see Cosby's career recovering.
Given the new allegations, AP decided to publish this really awkward portion of a recent interview with Cosby, where the beloved comedian refuses to answer questions about rape allegations and berates the AP interviewer for even asking about them. --Peter Weber