July 23, 2015
The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has decommissioned a North Philly mural that featured Bill Cosby.
The mural located beneath a bridge at Broad and Glenwood streets has been covered by a white overcoat. Titled "Father's Day," the mural featured Cosby alongside Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.
Mural Arts spokeswoman Cari Feiler Bender said the mural was slated to be decommissioned because the poor condition of the wall had caused the mural to deteriorate. The headlines surrounding Cosby expedited that process, she said.
The Mural Arts Program is expected to meet with the Father's Day Committee this fall to create another mural elsewhere in the city. Cosby will not be featured on the new mural.
"It's a mural about fathers that you can look up to," Bender said. "I don't think he's in that category anymore."
"It's a mural about fathers that you can look up to. I don't think he's in that category anymore." - Cari Feiler Bender
Cosby admitted to obtaining Quaaludes with the intent of giving it to young women he wanted to have sex with, according to court documents unsealed earlier this month. Numerous women have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating back years.
Vandals defaced the original mural before it was decommissioned, tagging Cosby's face with the phrases "rapist" and "dude with ludes," according to City Paper.
The original mural was completed about 15 years ago and renovated in 2008, Bender said.
