and it came about because this comic hannibal burris did a standup routine and then it went viral, andist saying he raped me, and then there was a another woman who said she alleged that he raped her and then model janice dickinson said she alleged that he raped her. and then three more women come forward on november 20th. michael, you wrote this book on cosby, and is this something that the world, and whole bunch of people knew about, but a lot of us didn't? >> i think so. it was an open secret to many people, at least the allegations, but as dr. king was fond of quoting, truth will rise again, and you cannot predict the internet, and i wrote a book and mr. cosby was highly irate and a new biography has come out expressing his hatred of me and it is because i challenged him h giving moral lessons of black america, and they were nasty and vicious. >> and this is where it is coming from, because he was basically a preacher, preaching. morality. >> well, he se thris throwing r while living in a glass house and that contradiction is going to get you sunk. >> and amy, you are sitting there

some of the claims are decades-old but they're getting fresh attention after comedian hannibal burristo it last month. several women have stepped forward to say that cosby raped them. former model janice dickinson told entertainment tonight that cosby raped her 30 years ago. >> i woke up with no pajamas on and realized i had been sexually assaulted by this man. >> reporter: he faced sexual assault lawsuit in 2005 and 12 women offered to testify that they, too, had been assaulted, but the case was settled out of court. in 2006 barbara bowman told cbs philadelphia cosby drugged and raped her more than two decades earlier. >> i feel that my trust was completely taken advantage of and abused. >> reporter: bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >>> the 2016 presidential race has its first official contender this morning. former virginia senator jim webb has launched an exploratory campaign. he is the first candidate in either party to take a step. the democrats sent an e-mail to supporter overnight. webb is a vietnam veteran who served one term in the senate. >>> an iowa man who had weapons

it started just a few weeks ago in philly when comedian hannibal burris called cosby a rapist ignitinghe past allegations. >> i was surprised to hear it come up and get national legs. >> reporter: bruce castor is the former d.a. in montgomery county and cosby was on his radar in early 2005 after a temple university employee alleged cosby raped her at his montgomery county home in january 2004. she notified authorities a year later. >> i certainly thought that he probably did something he shouldn't have and i wasn't a fool. i knew if i arrested him i was going to become a very famous man so i had a lot of incentive to want to go ahead. >> reporter: but caster says the evidence just wasn't there and the year it took the woman to tell him about it only helped cosby. >> had she reported it in time, we could have checked her blood or we could have checked even hair and nails if it was weeks gone by to see if she had anything in her system that didn't belong there, we could have done a forensic check on cosby's house. >> reporter: the former temple employee settled a civil suit with the come

with similar claims against cosby, renewed interest was fueled by an october routine by comedian hannibal burrishere cosby was called rapist. cosby's lawyer call the latest allegation a complete lie. >> these are allegations. innocent until proven guilty much that's what american is all about report roar mixed reaction at temple university where cosby serves on the board of trustees but so far the university is declining comment on cosby at this time. >> i think that's they're way of handling it of not responding. >> it's his matter but at the same time he represents temple. >> reporter: donna goes to temple and graduated from central high school. also, where bill cosby went. she worries the scandal will tarnish her school's image. >> he speaks at welcome week. he sometimes comes to commence many. i feel like it's an issue that temple needs to address. >> reporter: and the fallout continues tonight. a day after both nbc and netflix postponed or canceled upcoming shows starring cosby. tonight the cable channel tv land has canceled all remaining shows of the sinned indicated reruns of the cosby sh

have lingered for years and the subject was brought up last month in a standup act by comedian hannibal burrisphiladelphia where cosby's wholesome image was mocked? >> i don't curse on stage. yeah, but you're a rapist, so -- >> reporter: the most detailed allegations appeared in a lawsuit by 2005 by a temple university employee who claimed she was drugged and assaulted by cosby. police investigated but did not charge cosby due to lack of evidence. the civil suit was settled confidentially. the same type of story was alleged by tamara green who went public with her story nine years ago on the "today" show. >> he had gone from helping me to groping me and kissing me and touching me and handling me and, you know, taking off my clothes. >> reporter: cosby's representatives said they don't want to respond to old resurfacing allegations. over the years cosby, through his attorneys, has repeatedly denied sexually assaulting anyone. >> you teach them, you say go, attack that tree, bite it! >> reporter: cosby has a new series with nbc that's supposed to debut next year. it's unclear how, if it all, thi

what is new is the reaction, especially from younger people, including fellow comedian hannibal burrisalled out cosby during an october performance. >> i can talk down to you because i had a successful sitcom. i don't curse on stage. well, yeah, you're a rapist, so -- >> i'm joined by comedian chuck nice from cosby's hometown of philadelphia. >> yes, i am. >> thanks for coming in. i appreciate. >> it it's great to be here. >> what do you make of what's going on around bill cosby? >> here's the thing. you have kind of a confluence of events. number one, these are old allegations that have resurfaced and taken flight again because of social media. and there's a backlash amongst younger people against bill cosby because of his statements, his political statements concerning the black community and the fact that there are clearly some problems in the black community. but his statements were kind of statements of condemnation. it wasn't like, "hey, i would like to see this community rise up in this manner." it was like, you know, the old man shaking his fist, you know, like "you kids, you d

those accusations began making headlines when stand-up comedian hannibal burris recently called cosby a rapist. that led to cosby cancelling tv appearances. during an interview over the weekend, cosby remained silent. >> there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days. you're shaking your head no. i'm in the news business. i have to ask the question. do you have any response to those charges? shaking your head no. >> now despite never being charged with any of the alleged assaults, years later some are still demanding an apology from cosby. harry hairston from our sister station in philadelphia has more on what could lie ahead for the comedian. >> if i was mr. cosby, i think the thing for him to do at this point in time is obviously not to dignify any of these allegations with a response. >> reporter: that is the advice from former philadelphia prosecutor. at lea 14 women have said they were sexually assaulted by bill cosby decades ago but never led to charges. >> for them to come out and say she settled a lawsuit is -- it really doesn't say anything. >> reporter:

but back then the comedian hannibal burris had been getting attention for calling out cosby. ap reporter tried to skf cosby for comment. we don't answer that. we don't answer that. after the interview before cosby took off his microphone, this happened. >> now, can i get something from you -- >> what's that? >> that none of that will be shown? >> i can't promise that myself, but you didn't say anything -- >> i know i didn't say anything, but i'm asking your integrity that since i didn't want to say anything but i did answer you in terms of i don't want to say anything of what value will it have? >> think about the power dynamic there? cosby continued to pressure the young reporter to scuttle the question about rape, to hide it from the public, and even questioned the reporter's integrity. at first the ap just reported the no comment from cosby with you this week they decided to reveal the whole cringe-worthy tape. that person is ap arts writer bret zunger and he joined me from washington. thank you for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >> tell me about november 6th for peo

. >> jonah, this is because of a joke made by stand-up comedian hannibal burris. h this. >> i could talk down to you because i have a successful sitcom. yeah, it was great living with bill cosby. i don't curse on stage! >> hannibal said he had been doing that routine for quite a while and he was surprised that it took off in the last part of him saying that, in the final -- his final performances of using that part of his routine. but how does something go from stand-up comedians, in someone's act, to going viral online, jonah? >> i think this is a perfect example of a perfect storm of reality. take a very famous person in our culture, somebody everybody knows. we all grew up with bill cosby, we all grew up with "the cosby show." and take a big con traverse that's unsettled. did he do it, did he not do it. people don't know and so they're tuning in to see what's happening. this controversy caused a lot of conversation and a lot of attention on the web. >> and the internet plays a big role in this and so does social media. everyone had -- you reached out to his medi

it came up against recently because this comedian lambasted bill cosby, hannibal burris called him allg him of accusations of things we've heard about before. did it make you feel like finally somebody is listening when you see a little bit more attention being paid? or does it frustrate you? >> no, i was quite surprised and glad that a celebrity stepped up. because this is not a secret in hollywood. obviously people in hollywood, they're listening to the news, too, they know what's going on. >> so why doesn't it get prosecuted then? why if they're this, if this is happening repeatedly, why is there no action? i think so many of us are struggling to understand that. >> yes, and that's a great question and i get asked that all the time. i think that one of the issues is that in 2005, when this case was going to court, and we were testifying, she settled out of court. so that meant that all 13 women were not going to testify. so that just shut it down. it's a subject that people don't want to talk about. the mainstream media does not want to deal with it. it's just now becoming important

after video of stand-up comedian hannibal burris calling him a rapist last month went viral. lawyer said they would not dignify decade-old allegations with a response. now a routine that's also gone viral where cosby joked about drugging some women. >> crazy mary, put something in her drink. >> i want you to do the best you can. >> reporter: no criminal charges have been filed against the man known to many as the dad on the cosby show. >> i was embarrassed and ashamed. >> reporter: now facing his most high-profile accuser yet. >> i think right now, everything bill cosby has ever done is going to be reexamined and looked at anew. obviously, it doesn't suggest guilt in any way, but it -- now people are starting to look at him through a different lens. >> nbc news reached out to harper collins, the publisher of dickenson's 2002 book. they weren't able to verify anything in her book. gakback to you. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. >>> you are collecting snow pictures. >> pivoting back to the weather. mr. roker referred to the hash tag we've got going on. so many of you se

. >> reporter: she wrote a column after hannibal burris, calling cosby a rapist went viral. >> yeah,by, so -- >> reporter: took to the internet, posted pics of the comic and encouraged fans to retweet them. word spread cosby would no longer be appearing on late night with david letterman as previously scheduled. he did show up sunday night on stage in erie, pennsylvania, where fans seemed to be reserving judgment. >> i think he's innocent until proven guilty. >> until i know it's true, i wouldn't judge him. >> yeah. >> reporter: no criminal charges have ever been filed against cosby. the 77-year-old insists he has no plans to talk about any of it. but many wonder about the damaging effects to a carefully crafted image as america's loveable dad. >> in the court of public opinion, we give a verdict every minute of every day with the opinions that we have each and every moment we hear the story. >> a planned "today" show interview was also canceled nearly two weeks ago when cosby learned he may be asked about renewed attention on the rape allegations. the sitcom star is developing a new