Did Bill Cosby blackball Janis Ian because he thought she was gay?
That's what the out 64-year old singer alleged on Facebook last week in a post as reported by Variety on Monday.
What prompted Ian to come forward was the New York Magazine cover story in which 35 Cosby accusers told their stories.
"I was not sexually bothered by Bill Cosby. We met because he was curious about me."
Her account dates back to 1967 when the 16-year old singer made a pop culture splash with her hit "Society's Child." Dealing with the fallout from an interracial romance between teens, it became a hit after Leonard Bernstein featured the song on a television special where he explored rock music. This led to other offers from popular variety shows, including the "Smothers Brothers."
"My song 'Society's Child' was climbing the charts and creating a great deal of controversy. The Smothers Brothers took a huge gamble and had me on their hit television show. I was just sixteen years old when we taped it. I'd been on the road for months, doing press and one-nighters. My chaperone/tour manager, a family friend six or seven years older than me, was doing everything in her power to make sure I was protected and getting as much rest as possible,"
While at the taping at the "Smothers Brothers" show, she fell asleep on her chaperone" s="" lap,="" which="" was="" seen="" by="" Cosby. Ian also explains how exhausted a tour and the controversy surrounding the song had left her at that point. "And I was exhausted. I'd been having nightmares for weeks, the result of the controversy surrounding 'Society's Child' and the death threats I was receiving daily. I needed to sleep. So I fell asleep in my chaperone's lap. She was earth motherly, I was scared. It was good to rest."
The taping went well. (See her appearance below.) There was no hint of any problems. Then, a few weeks later, she had a conversation with her manager.
"A while later, my manager called me into her office. 'What happened at the 'Smothers Brothers' show?!' I had no idea what she was talking about, and said so. 'Well, no one else on TV is willing to have you on. Not out there, anyway.' Why? I wondered. And was told that Cosby, seeing me asleep in the chaperone's lap, had made it his business to 'warn' other shows that I wasn't 'suitable family entertainment,' was probably a lesbian, and shouldn't be on television.
"Again, a reminder. I was 16. I'd never slept with a man, I'd never slept with a woman. Hell, I barely been kissed, and that in the middle of the summer camp sports area, next to the ping pong table.
"Banned from TV. Unbelievable. Bless Johnny Carson and his producer Freddy de Cordova, one of the nicest men I've ever worked with, because they didn't listen. Or maybe they didn't give a damn. I don't know. I do know that they broke the barrier Cosby tried to create."
Her post continues to comment on the current Cosby controversy, the role his wife plays in it and the lack of racial diversity amongst the women that have stepped forward.
"But what an odd thing, that a black man who slept with so very many white women chose to take my possible lesbianism away from our one meeting, rather than the message I tried to get across with 'Society's Child.'" She concluded, "How pathetic. How truly, truly pathetic."
Watch Janis Ian perform "Society's Child" on the "Smothers Brothers" television show in 1967:
