Janis Ian shared her “Cosby Memory” with her Facebook followers, following the release of the New York Magazine cover story that featured 35 of Bill Cosby’s accusers.
Unlike the women featured in the magazine, Ian claims she wasn’t sexually bothered by Cosby. Instead, they met because “he was curious about [her].”
Ian, a singer whose song, “Society’s Child,” was gaining popularity, traveled with a chaperone. She claims Cosby saw her napping on her chaperone’s lap and assumed she was most likely a lesbian. She also claims that he told other shows that the singer wasn’t “suitable family entertainment,” and she lost out on a number of entertainment jobs.
Johnny Carson and his producer didn’t listen to Cosby’s remarks, and had the singer on “The Tonight Show.” Her biggest hit was the mid-1970s lament, “At Seventeen.” That song included lyrics that spoke about learning the truth that “love was meant for beauty queens.”
The singer says that on one thing, Cosby was right. Ian came out as a lesbian in 1993.
—Staff writer