Bill Cosby Tried To Get Wendy Williams Fired From Her Job — Twice
Bill Cosby has been in prison since 2018 for multiple counts of sexual misconduct. Cosby’s behavior has been a topic in pop culture for decades, and talk show host Wendy Williams was one of the first people to approach the topic decades ago.
Wendy Williams talks about anything
If there’s one thing Wendy Williams is known for, it’s talking about other people’s business and gossiping about other celebrities to her audience. In fact, it’s what helped her career advance: listeners of her radio shows loved her over-the-top personality and straight-talking style.
Williams began making a name for herself in the early 1990s as a shock jock and radio personality. There was one point where she worked for the morning show at 98.7 Kiss radio station in New York doing something similar to what she does today. Williams discussed the latest celebrity gossip in a segment called “Dishing the Dirt,” much like the “Hot Topics” on her TV talk show today.
Williams broached one topic that hadn’t been widely discussed at the time: allegations of sexual misconduct against “America’s Dad,” Bill Cosby.
Bill Cosby tried to get Wendy Williams fired
According to VICE, Williams spoke about Cosby’s treatment of her on The Wendy Williams Show in 2014.
“I was perusing the Enquirer magazine, and I came across an interview that they did with Dr. Cosby. Ironically, this is one of the only times he has ever spoken out about these sexual allegations, and it was to the Enquirer back then,” Williams recalled.
Williams discussed the news on the show, and moments later, her boss’s phone rang with Cosby on the other end.
“[Cosby] demands for me to be fired, talked to the general manner in such a way that the general manager — my own boss — turned on me like a wild pitbull [and] called me into his office in the middle of the morning broadcast,” Williams continued. “Cosby’s on the speakerphone. Cosby dressed me down and called me everything but a daughter of God.”
Wendy Williams stood up to Bill Cosby’s attempts to get her fired
Williams revealed in an interview with Howard Stern in 2017 that Cosby actually attempted to have her fired twice for discussing the sexual assault allegations against him.
“Didn’t Bill Cosby attempt to get you fired from your job?” Stern asked Williams, to which she confirmed, “[in] 1991 [and] 1992.”
“I’m a young girl, I’m in my twenties, it’s like 1992 or ’91,” Williams continued. “I’m on the air in the morning doing my gossip report, the GM is in his office — this is like seven o’clock in the morning. Cosby is on the phone talking to the GM. The GM is definitely agreeing with Cosby and figuring out what do we do with me.”
Williams said she was able to stand up to Cosby — and her boss — and keep her job because listeners loved her on-air style, and that’s what mattered most. She went on to say that she’s never “had an interaction” with Cosby, but had just one word for what she thought of him: “guilty.”
