A former NBC staffer says that Bill Cosby made him feel like a “pimp” during the filming of The Cosby Show in the 1980s. Frank Scotti, 90, has said that while Cosby was making one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, he was also entertaining numerous women in his dressing room while Scotti stood guard.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. According to Scotti, Cosby Used to Get Him to Pay Off Women
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In addition to guarding the door while Cosby was visited by young girls, Scotti told the Daily News that he also used to have to send cash to women and their families. Sometimes the fees were $2,000. In the interview he added that he kept receipts of the money orders and that he was now coming forward after all these years because of the recent revelations surrounding Cosby. NBC News reports that one of those money orders is made out to Shawn Thompson, the mother of Autumn Thompson. In 1997, Autumn Thompson was convicted for trying to extort money from Cosby. She had apparently told the comedian that she would go to the tabloids with claims Cosby was her father unless she was paid off.
One woman who received the money, Alva Chinn, told NBC News, that Cosby just gave people money out of generosity.
2. He Used to be the Facilities Manager at Cosby’s Studio
NBC News reports that Scotti was the facilities manager at the Brooklyn studio where Cosby filmed The Cosby Show. The show was filmed at the Studio One studios in Brooklyn during the first few seasons but the filming then moved to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.
3. Scotti Says Cosby Got Him to Recruit Women
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Scotti said that Cosby used to ask him to send young girl’s to the comedian’s dressing room. The facilities manager was then asked to stand guard at the door. Speaking to the Today Show, Scotti says “I felt like a pimp. Every time he had somebody I had to watch, I had the girl stay there. I felt dirty.” Scotti said that a talent agency in Manhattan supplied women to Cosby and that the comedian would supposedly be interviewing them for roles in the show.
Cosby’s attorney, Martin Singer, told NBC News in response to Scotti, “It appears that his story is pure speculation so that he can get his 15 minutes of fame.”
4. Cosby’s Behavior Around Women Forced Scotti to Resign From NBC
In an interview with the Daily News, Scotti said he quit his job because he couldn’t work with Cosby any more. He cited the comedian’s behavior towards women as his reason.
5. Scotti & Cosby Have Known Each Other Since the 1960s
He told the Daily News that he first met Cosby in New York in the 1960s when the comedian was one of the stars of the Greenwich Village comedy scene. The two then worked together when Cosby began shooting The Cosby Show in 1984 in Brooklyn. The former-facilities manager lives in Lakewood, New Jersey these days.