NEW YORK (AP) – Bill Cosby’s upcoming appearance on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman has been cancelled amid a growing uproar over allegations that he sexually assaulted several women in past decades.
Cosby spokesman David Brokaw confirmed Friday night that Cosby would not appear next Wednesday as previously scheduled. He did not say why.
Late Show representative Kimberly Izzo-Emmet said, “We can’t comment on the guest booking process.” She said Regis Philbin would be the replacement guest.
Another cancelled engagement, on The Queen Latifah Show on October 30, was characterised by that show as a postponement granted at Cosby’s request.
Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby’s accusers, has recently levelled allegations of sexual assault by the comic in interviews and in a Washington Post online column, writing that “Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times”.
The stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress last month brought heat on Cosby at a performance in Philadelphia. His routine, during which he assailed Cosby as “a rapist”, was captured on video and posted online, gaining wide exposure.
The 77-year-old Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any of the cases, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.
Cosby has declined to comment on the recent resurgence of allegations.
