Be wary of 'nice' celebrities

Be wary of 'nice' celebrities

News flash: Celebrities are capable of bewildering, disheartening behaviour.

Yes, even "nice guy" celebrities.

Famous beloved TV dads Bill Cosby (The Cosby Show) and Stephen Collins (7th Heaven) have been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons lately.

Cosby's history of purported sexual misconduct has come back to haunt him in a big way over the past month.

For those unaware of what the hubbub is about, the 77-year-old actor-comedian and star of the long-running sitcom, The Cosby Show, been accused of raping 13 different women since 2002.

He has never been formally charged by any of his alleged victims, but in 2006, he settled out of court with one of the women for an undisclosed amount.

As for Collins, 67, his case is almost too depressing for words.

The guy who played a saintly minister on the squeaky clean TV show 7th Heaven back in the 90s has admitted to exposing himself to underage girls.

STEALTHY

Supposedly sweet fellows can be even more dangerous than your garden variety deviant because they are in stealth mode.

They are covert perverts.

Women feel comfortable around them.

Parents are fine with them hanging around their kids.

They seem kind, their dimples are cute, their sweaters look cosy.

They would never do anything unsavoury, right?

Wrong.

The simple fact is that it does not matter what a guy seems like on the outside - you never really know what is going on in his head. Which is why I do not trust anyone, especially when it comes to my children.

I am not paranoid, just wary.

The case that has shocked me the most is that of Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi, who was recently fired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after having been accused of sexual violence against several women.

While on air during his superb interview show Q, this guy has always passed himself off as thoughtful, sensitive and benign.

It turns out that off air, he is something completely different - a sadomasochism devotee with a taste for Fifty Shades Of Grey-style sex.

Several women have accused him of taking the sexual cruelty too far.

Speaking as a Canadian and a radio DJ, I can tell you that I just don't get it.

I don't know why sex - a powerful experience even in its most basic form - must be turned into a freak show. All of us have weird, naughty thoughts. Not all of us act on them.

The joy of sex is really to have a partner give of herself or himself freely.

What a wonderful gift.

Listen up, celebs.

We are not asking you to be perfect.

We are not asking you to live up to your goody-two-shoes image.

We are just saying, maybe you do not have to act like complete animals (no offence, animals).

You play nice on TV, is it not more important to play nice in the bedroom?

Share your views with Jason at jjohnson@sph.com.sg

The simple fact is that it does not matter what a guy seems like on the outside - you never really know what is going on in his head. - Jason Johnson

Bill Cosby

COMEDIAN SMACKDOWN

Cosby's current crop of bad press was instigated on Oct 16 by comedian Hannibal Buress, who took him to task over rape allegations.

Said Buress during a comedy routine that ended up going viral: "He gets on TV: 'Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the 80s!

"Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches."

ALLEGED VICTIM SMACKDOWN

One of Cosby's alleged victims, Ms Barbara Bowman, claimed the offences happened in the mid-1980s when he was mentoring her. She wrote an essay for the Washington Post on Thursday titled "Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?"

INTERNET SMACKDOWN

Cosby's publicity team made a horrible fumble last week when they asked his Twitter followers to "meme" him.

His picture ended up with captions like "My two favourite things are Jello Pudding & rape".

RADIO SMACKDOWN

Cosby did an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) earlier this week, during which he remained completely silent while the interviewer asked him if he had any response to his accusers.

TALKSHOW SMACKDOWN

It was announced a few days ago that Cosby's upcoming appearance on talk show Late Night With David Letterman has been cancelled.

His lawyer has responded to the resurgence of the allegations by saying that Cosby will not address "decade-old, discredited claims".

Stephen Collins

WIFE SMACKDOWN

In October, a tape in which US actor Collins confessed to molesting and exposing himself to young girls was leaked to the press. The recording was made by his wife Faye Grant during a therapy session. The two are going through a messy divorce. Collins' lawyer said Grant released the tape to extort money from the actor.

HOLLYWOOD SMACKDOWN

Collins' popular 90s TV show 7th Heaven has been showing in reruns, but was pulled off the air in the US due to the allegations. He was also fired from two upcoming movie projects, including Ted 2, within hours of the incriminating tape going public.


This article was first published on Nov 18, 2014.
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