Hollywood officials have vowed to protect Bill Cosby’s Walk of Fame star, despite Cosby being sentenced to 10 years in prison for violently sexually assaulting a woman.
On Tuesday, Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill sentenced Bill Cosby to 3 to 10 years in state prison for the sexual assault of Temple University’s women’s basketball administrator Andrea Constand in 2004.
Cbslocal.com reports: In a five-page statement submitted to the court, Cosby’s victim, Andrea Constand, now 45, said the assault robbed her of her self-confidence and affects her to this day. Constand said she now lives alone with her two dogs and has trouble trusting people.
“When the sexual assault happened, I was a young woman brimming with confidence and looking forward to a future bright with possibilities,” she wrote. “Now, almost 15 years later, I’m a middle-aged woman who’s been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward.”
The AP does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, which Constand and other accusers have done.
Immediately following Cosby’s sentencing, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce released a statement reiterating its stance on the removal of stars from the Walk of Fame:
“The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historical record of entertainment figures past and present. Once installed, the stars become part of the historic fabric of the Walk of Fame, a ‘designated historic cultural landmark,’ and are intended to be permanent. The stars only commemorate the recipient’s professional accomplishments. It is regrettable when the personal lives of inductees do not measure up to public standards and expectations; however, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce does not remove stars from the Walk of Fame.”
Not everyone shared the Chamber of Commerce’s view.
This is America, we champion our predators!
— Name (@__Teds__) September 25, 2018
Once a star, aleays a star. I say it stays! Aint no one got the true facts about what happened and this is just like a death penalty on an innocent man. Leave that star put!!
— Billy Owens (@BillyOw53223642) September 25, 2018
Sean Adl-Tabatabai