At one time broadly considered to be one of the most wholesome celebrities on the planet, Bill Cosby is currently about as far from that lauded precipice as he could be. In April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated incident assault, his first conviction after spending the last few years facing a growing number of sexual assault and rape accusations. And his once-untouchable career continues to erode, as the Television Academy has removed Cosby's name and statue from its Hall of Fame.
Bill Cosby was inducted into the TV Academy's Hall of Fame in 1992, with The Cosby Show having been one of television's biggest hits through the 1980s. And as it goes with entertainers that get inducted, a Cosby bust was crafted and put on display at the California-based Hall of Fame. All of the busts were removed and stored as the new Saban Media Center was being constructed, and according to Deadline, one Academy spokesperson confirmed that Cosby's would not be among the busts that will be returned to the courtyard. The same spokesperson confirmed that Cosby's name had been stricken from the Academy's Hall of Fame website.
While the Academy has already taken those steps to wipe Bill Cosby's name from one set of honorees, no plans are currently in place to take away the physical Emmy awards that he'd received over the years -- three were for her his performances on the '60s drama I Spy, with the other for his 1969 comedy program The Bill Cosby Special -- nor the Bob Hope Humanitarian award he received in 2003. Which isn't to say these things won't happen in the future, but there are "no plans" for them to occur now.
The TV Academy relatively recently kicked Harvey Weinstein out of its ranks following the producer's controversial string of accusations against him, though he wasn't in its Hall of Fame. Conversely, Bill Cosby wasn't a member of the TV Academy, so it was only the Hall of Fame distinctions that were addressed here.
In 2015, Andrea Constand filed three charges of aggravated incident assault against Bill Cosby in a Pennsylvania court, and though that attempt eventually ended in a mistrial, the case led to unsealed court documents from the civil suit Constand filed against Cosby in 2005. That case's deposition transcripts revealed Cosby acknowledging engaging in casual sex with women that involved the illegal use of Quaaludes, among other high-profile reveals. When Constand's case went back to the courts as a trial by jury, things ended much differently, with Cosby convicted of all three counts.
Everyone invested in this case is no doubt awaiting word on what kind of sentence Bill Cosby will get, as well as what other headlines will be made in the interim. (His wife Camille Cosby has since released a vitriolic statement blaming "mob justice" for her husband's conviction.) In the meantime, check out when some of TV's newest hits will be around by bookmarking our summer premiere schedule.
