As Cosby shows go on, so do the protests

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(Updated)

The second stop on Bill Cosby’s stand-up tour of Southern Ontario didn’t go as smoothly as his first.

A large crowd of protesters were outside the theatre in London, and inside he was interrupted by hecklers referencing the numerous allegations of sexual assault being levelled at the comedian.

There was a heavy security presence inside and outside the venue, frisking people on the way in.

It was a rough ride for Cosby tonight as hundreds of loud and vocal protestors were outside chanting and calling out people as they went into the show. Inside it was about an hour into the show when a man yelled “You are a rapist. I’m being thrown out because you are a rapist”. He and his friend were then escorted from the building.

The hecklers buddy was handcuffed and questioned by police inside the lobby of Budweiser Gardens. The heckler already tossed out. He said he felt he had to speak out because no one else inside the show was: “What we are on camera for was not my intention. But no one said anything, so I had to say something. We are laughing in there, how can you laugh at that?”

“Bill Cosby was not what we expected. He was pretty arrogant and did not acknowledge what he had done.”

But he did make a couple of references to the scandal.

At one point a woman in the audience was going to the concession stand and she asked if he wanted a drink. He said “You have to be careful about drinking around me”. At another point he said the joke he had written had “nothing to do with all this stuff going on”.

Cosby is facing numerous allegations he drugged and raped women over many years. He’s denied that and hasn’t been charged.

“How can you support a rapist?”

Because he hasn’t been charged according to many supporters.

“I think that he hasn’t been proven guilty of anything yet, so how can we cast judgement.”

“He hasn’t been charged with anything and I’m a fan, just here to enjoy the show.”

But protestors say the lack of charges doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.

Megan Walker, Women’s Abuse Centre: “We have no statute of limitations in Canada. These women waiting this long is entirely consistent with what we see in our office, every single day.”

And some of the protesters are men.

“It’s really important for men to be here as well. Because women can raise the issue but it’s men who are raping and it’s men who must stop.”

Not everyone coming out was happy with the show.

“It’s just hard to sit there and listen to him, with all the things that have been going on.”

“You gotta’ wait and see if he’s really guilty or not. But it’s tough because you can see that somebody may be trying to destroy his legacy here.”

Some of the protesters from tonight said they plan to be at the show Friday night in Hamilton.

Additional video: Annette Hamm interviews protest organizer Anne Bokma on Morning Live:

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