Bill Cosby’s upcoming appearance on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” has been canceled amid a growing uproar over allegations that he sexually assaulted several women in past decades. Cosby spokesman David Brokaw confirmed Friday night that Cosby would not appear next Wednesday as previously scheduled. He did not say why.
“Late Show” representative Kimberly Izzo-Emmet said, “We can’t comment on the guest booking process.” She said Regis Philbin would be the replacement guest. Another canceled engagement, on “The Queen Latifah Show” on Oct. 30, was characterized by that show as a postponement granted at Cosby's request.
Barbara Bowman, one of Cosby’s accusers, has recently leveled allegations of sexual assault by the comic in interviews and in a Washington Post online column, writing that “Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times.” The 77-year-old Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any of the cases, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.
Cosby has declined to comment on the recent resurgence of allegations. During an interview on NPR's “Weekend Edition” on Saturday, he was asked to comment about the sexual assault claims, but declined to say anything and only shook his head.