Bill Cosby Spiral - H 2014
AP ImagesThe Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s director said that if she had been aware of sexual-assault allegations against comedian Bill Cosby, she wouldn’t have moved forward with an exhibit featuring artworks he owns.
In a first-person piece in online magazine The Root Wednesday, Johnnetta B. Cole said that she’s “devastated” by the allegations, but that the exhibit should stay open because it’s about the “interplay of artistic creativity,” not about Cosby’s life and career. The exhibit opened in November. The museum has stood by its exhibit as the allegations started to receive more attention, especially since last month’s release of a 2005 deposition in which Cosby acknowledged getting sedatives to give to women before sex.
Cole said the museum didn’t hide the fact that the Cosbys funded the exhibition with a $716,000 gift, but it should have made that more clear. She said she didn’t know about the allegations when the museum accepted the gift.
