Bill Cosby seems to be making an unofficial Philadelphia press tour in the countdown to his sexual misconduct retrial scheduled for April.
After dining at Old City’s Ristorante La Veranda with friends and journalists earlier this month and being photographed wearing Eagles gear last week, the defamed comedian performed a surprise show at Germantown’s LaRose Jazz Club on Monday night to a room of about 50, plus invited reporters.
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WHYY reported Cosby scatted with the jazz band on stage and told stories about his family and his descent into blindness.
Cosby reportedly did not make mention of any of the multitudes of allegations against him from more than 50 women, many of whom have shared similar stories of Cosby drugging them in an to attempt rape. His retrial set for April – after a June trial, last year, ended in a mistrial and deadlocked jury following 52 hours of deliberations – is on charges stemming from an alleged 2004 incident.
Andrea Constand claims Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004, when she was a 31-year-old staffer at Temple University’s women’s basketball team. Cosby is charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
WHYY’s Bobby Allyn shared a video from Cosby’s Germantown appearance on Twitter.
At one point during the act, Cosby asked 11-year-old Mekhi Boone, "Who am I?" Boone responded, "You used to be a comedian."
As the #MeToo movement brings more sexual assault allegations into the mainstream, many have pondered how events of the last several months will impact Cosby’s retrial. Though he avoided public appearances leading up to the first trial, Cosby seems to be taking the opposite approach this time.
Allyn reported that most of Cosby’s audience greeted him warmly, though Allyn’s Twitter video garnered mixed responses.
Before Cosby left the club, Allyn asked him how he thinks #MeToo will impact the retrial, though he didn’t get any sort of conclusive answer.
“I don’t know,” Cosby reportedly shrugged in response.