While his sitcom was raking in millions for NBC, sources claim network execs looked the other way in Bill Cosby’s “sexual molestation” scandal, The ENQUIRER has learned.
In the 1980s, television executives at the Peacock network were aware secret payoffs were going to some Cosby victims to protect his image as America’s quintessential dad on “The Cosby Show,” sources claim.
To date, at least 21 women have accused the 77-year-old comic of sexual assault, and, in some cases, drugging them. Cosby’s lawyers have denied the charges, dismissing them as “decade-old, discredited” claims.
But an insider claimed to The ENQUIRER: “NBC knew! They said nothing and let Cosby ‘cover up.’
“Network bosses knew about Bill’s double life, but they looked the other way out of greed and their desire to protect Bill as a symbol of family values.
“Behind the scenes, it was well known that payoffs were being made to some women to keep them from exposing the scandal,” claimed the insider.
What’s more, a former producer has divulged how one actress on the show “complained that Bill was sexually inappropriate.”
The ENQUIRER reported in 2000 that another actress who appeared on the show, Lachele Covington, complained to police that Cosby sexually attacked her at his New York City home. Despite her allegations, authorities never prosecuted.
During its 1984 to 1992 run, “The Cosby Show” became the most profitable series in TV history, with NBC paying upwards of $62 million for a single season.
Now, the embattled network has scrapped plans to develop a proposed new Cosby show. Via its spokesperson, NBC issued a flat “no comment” when questioned if the network had hushed up Cosby claims.
Ex-show producers have also been tight-lipped, with Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner saying: “These news reports are beyond our knowledge or comprehension.”
But at least one veteran NBC employee has been brave enough to speak out. Frank Scotti, now 90, who worked at the studio where the sitcom was taped, said Cosby engaged him to deliver monthly payouts to at least eight women in 1989 and 1990.
Scotti even has “proof” – copies of money orders made out in his name.
“He (Cosby) was covering himself by having my name on it,” Scotti told a New York newspaper. “It was a cover up.”
He also alleged the famed television dad arranged for a Manhattan modeling agency to deliver women, some girls as young as 16, to his dressing room.
Cosby’s lawyer denied Scotti’s claims, but did not respond to The ENQUIRER about other allegations contained in this article.
