Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby now faces criminal charges over sexual assault allegations, but despite a lifetime of reported abuse and his admission of drugging women, the man still has his defenders.
It is true that Cosby has been a philanthropic powerhouse over the years, particularly to historically black colleges. Among the donations he's made in the past are a $20 million gift to Spelman College in 1988, and $3 million to the Morehouse School of Medicine. (In July, Spelman ended a professorship named for Cosby and returned money associated with it to a foundation established by his wife, Camille.)
Many of Cosby's fans aren't weighing the good against the bad, however—they don't think the bad was all that bad to begin with.
Sourcing quotes to random social networking accounts is a hallmark of bad reporting, because you can search-'n'-quote your way to supporting almost any position in the quest for a balanced, dramatic story. These Cosby supporters and their wheedling, cautious, silencing denial, though, they're real. That's the first and last line of defense for celebrity rapists.
