BBC Documentaries

Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon (2017x136)

Air date: Jun 05, 2017

This film tells the fascinating story of how one of Hollywood's brightest and wealthiest stars finally came to face a criminal trial for sexual assault a decade after the accusations were made. On 5 June 2017, Bill Cosby faces trial charged with sexual assault. From the start of his career in 1960s, Cosby was on a trajectory to become one of the biggest television stars in the world. The eponymous Cosby Show, with Bill's alter ego Cliff Huxtable as the lead, was his career's crowning glory. With its affluent, happy black family at its heart, it redefined the way African-American families were represented on television. During this period, Cosby also became a huge philanthropist, donating millions to African-American causes. But throughout his career, Bill was allegedly privately drugging and raping women with impunity. This film explores why it took so long for allegations about Bill Cosby to be taken seriously and hears extraordinary testimony from the journalists, co-stars and the accusers who fought for years for this dark side of the Cosby story to be heard. Containing interviews with those who knew Cosby professionally and personally, such as Richard Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor and actor Joseph C Phillips, as well as accusers, fellow Cosby actor Lili Bernard, and former actor and Playboy Bunny Victoria Valentino. Bill Cosby denies all the allegations made against him.