Nicole Weisensee Metropolis / THE HOT SEAT

At the beginning of your book, you write about a moment—after everything had transpired and you already knew the ending of the Cosby story—where you’re watching a rerun of The Cosby Show and kind of enjoying it. Can you separate the art from the artist in this particular case? When I was writing the book proposal, I actually could. The Cosby Show was one thing. Bill Cosby—what he did—is another.

I have a different feeling now. There’s a moment in the book where I saw who [Cosby accuser] Lili Bernard was. I saw a snippet of her appearance on The Cosby Show. And then, when I was interviewing Jennifer Thompson, Jane Doe Number 2, she showed me where she was an extra in the show. So now it’s tarnished for me. I’d be looking constantly—not for the main characters, but for the extras in the background—and asking, Was she one? CLICK FOR MORE