Former The View host Rosie O’Donnell says she too has witnessed Bill Cosby’s sexual harassment.
Rosie O’Donnell appeared on Watch What Happens Live with host Andy Cohen and shared her personal experience with Cosby’s predatory ways. She claimed the former comedian sexually harassed a producer when she had her own show The Rosie O’Donnell Show. She said that she was unable to discuss the attack, which happened when Cosby visited the show between 1996 and 2002, when she was on “The View.” Cosby has since been found guilty of three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to what may be the rest of his life in prison.
“OK, well, I’m going to tell you the story about what happened to a staff member on our show,” she said after being asked about Cosby. “Very tall, like, six-foot-tall, larger woman, very great producer. She was assigned to do his ‘Mystery Guest.’ He was there as the mystery guest. Now, newsflash, I knew who the mystery guest was every time. I just was acting along with it.”
She revealed that she always knew who the mystery guest was but that she wanted to fake a more lively reaction, Fox News reports. This meant the producer would need to prep the guest more before they came out. “So, in the room, the green room, the producer goes in, and she’s talking and saying to Bill Cosby, ‘You know, she’s not going to know that it’s you,’ and he said ‘All she has to do is put her hand right here’” O’Donnell said. “And he put his hand near his penis, ‘And she’ll know it’s me.’” She went on to say, “I was one of those people who knew he was guilty from a long time ago and was not surprised by all of his — the charges against him.”
At that point, O’Donnell said the female producer took off in tears and was replaced by a male producer who had to explain to Cosby that his comments were inappropriate. O’Donnell said she didn’t learn about the incident until after the show. However, she said she did attempt to highlight the issue during a “The View” taping, but “they would not discuss it.” “Every time I tried to bring it up, it became a little fight,” O’Donnell said. She went on to say, “I was one of those people who knew he was guilty from a long time ago and was not surprised by all of his — the charges against him.”
