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Bill Cosby Items To Stay At Smithsonian African American Museum

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 02:50 PST, Mar 29, 2016

Bill Cosby has pretty much lost his comedy career in the wake of the sexual assault accusations against him, but the Emmy-winning actor will still be represented at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

The Washington-based museum, which is slated to open in September, will feature 11 exhibitions with more than 3,000 items, and two of the items will be related to Cosby in the “Taking the Stage” exhibition. The Smithsonian NMAAMH released a statement about the inclusion of the Bill Cosby objects in the exhibition, making it clear that “[t]here is not a Bill Cosby exhibition.”

“Taking the Stage” which will feature 150 objects from the world of film, TV, and entertainment, and the two Bill Cosby objects that will be on display come from the actor’s iconic career as a comedian and on television. A comic book from Cosby’s series I Spy will be on display in the TV Pioneers case, and the cover of the 1964 album I Started Out as a Child will be set in the Comedians’ case. Cosby is featured on the album along with fellow African-American comedians Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, Moms Mabley, Dick Gregory, and Godfrey Cambridge.

After the New York Times reported that the “Taking the Stage” exhibition would include Cosby-featured items, the museum was criticized for honoring the disgraced comic. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art previously showcased art from Bill Cosby’s private collection last year, but the museum stood by the decision because the artwork was not created by Cosby and instead honored the artists who created the pieces.

Bill Cosby’s prolific career in the entertainment field would be hard to overlook despite his very public sexual abuse scandal, which has seen dozens of women coming out of the woodwork with allegations against the star. In an interview with the Associated Press last year, Cosby’s TV son Malcolm Jamal-Warner expressed sadness over the fact that Cosby’s most iconic series, the ’80s sitcom The Cosby Show, has been banned from television in the wake of the scandal.

“My biggest concern is when it comes to images of people of color on television and film, no matter what… negative stereotypes of people of color, we’ve always had ‘The Cosby Show’ to hold up against that. And the fact that we no longer have that, that’s the thing that saddens me the most because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale.”

Warner also told Billboard that it has been difficult to see Cosby, his childhood mentor, in the headlines today. And while he wouldn’t comment on the sex abuse accusations because he “wasn’t there,” Malcolm did reflect on the many contributions to show business Cosby has made, as well as his contributions to the black community.

“That’s the Bill Cosby I know, I can’t speak on the other stuff.”

Of course, while some people are put off by the fact that Bill Cosby will be represented in the upcoming Smithsonian NMAAMH exhibition, it could be worse. Cosby released dozens of albums as a stand-up comedian, and on a 1969 album, he made a joke about drugging women with an aphrodisiac. On the album It’s True! It’s True!, Cosby told a joke about lacing ladies’ drinks with “Spanish Fly.” And that’s definitely not museum material.

Check out the video below to hear Cosby’s “Spanish Fly” bit and his story of going to Spain with I Spy co-star Robert Culp.

[Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]

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