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What do we do with everything we thought we knew about Bill Cosby, and what we now know?
Bell calls Cosbys story one of the biggest disappointments in American history.
What do we do with that?
He was a transformative figure.
If we throw that all away, were losing a big part of our history.
You were born in 1973.
Was your introduction to him via his childrens programming?One hundred percent.
I would imagine the first thing I saw wasFat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
As far as I understood, Bill Cosby was just the host of the show.
I didnt know he created it.
I didnt know he did the voices.
He was talking directly to the camera in a way that communicated,This guy cares about me.
I was young, so I wasnt really watching Richard Pryor or George Carlin.
I saw him perform live twice in the 2000s.
He did two hours and at the end, he goes, The dentist … and the place exploded.
There were a lot of us.
In 2004, when the allegations came out, the media landscape was very different.
It wasnt like opening your phone and going, Look what theyre saying about Bill Cosby.
These were inconvenient truths we didnt want to put together.
Hannibal wasnt even trying to break any news.
You state in the documentary that many people you approached did not want to participate.
Some people feel we cant afford to lose a Black role model because we dont have enough of them.
Its true we dont have enough representation.
You also mention in the documentary that there were several times you wanted to abandon the project.
If I quit this, those things go away.
There are lots of Bill Cosby documentaries Ive heard about that have gone away.
It felt like a betrayal to those women if I didnt put this out there.
At what points did you feel like quitting?Specifically, the day he got out of prison.
You hear me say in the doc, I dont know what this is anymore.
You include a clip of Stephen Colbert telling Jerry Seinfeld that he can no longer listen to Cosbys albums.
Jerry seems surprised by this.
Id never seen that before; its incredible.
In the privacy of your own home, you’re able to do whatever you want.
When we take it into the public square, its time to be sensitive.
You cant act like the bad parts arent there.
People of my generation are in the struggle.
A new generation asks, Why are you protective of this man who committed all these crimes?
This film isnt telling you how to react; this film is showing these other reactions exist.
What do you hope comes out of this conversation?That the conversation doesnt end when the doc ends.
There was nothing casual about it.
This is way bigger than Bill Cosby.
And right now, sexual-assault and rape victims generally do not feel that way.
Because I learned those lessons from him, then I had to make this documentary.
