Smithsonian stands by Cosby art exhibition

[SOURCE] The Smithsonian Institution is standing behind a museum exhibition that relies in part on the art collection of Bill Cosby and his wife.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art opened the exhibition of African and African-American artwork in November. On Monday, The Associated Press revealed Cosby admitted in 2005 that he obtained quaaludes with the intent of giving them to women with whom he wanted to have sex.

On Tuesday, the museum issued a statement saying it's "aware of the recent revelations about Bill Cosby's behavior." The museum says it "in no way condones this behavior."

But the museum says the exhibition is fundamentally about the artworks and the artists who created them, not about the owners of the collections.

Camille Cosby releases statement on rape allegations against her husband, Bill Cosby

The wife of Bill Cosby, Camille Cosby about rape allegations against her husband. She compares the coverage of allegations to the coverage of the Rolling Stone's University of Virginia rape story.

NEW: Billy Cosby's wife Camille releases statement comparing coverage of her husband to Rolling Stone UVA rape story pic.twitter.com/lzWdytGC22

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) December 15, 2014

Bill Cosby expects black media to remain neutral

Bill Cosby broke his silence Friday, albeit briefly, to lecture the media on remaining “neutral” and to say that his wife is standing by him.

Reached at his Massachusetts home, the star declined to address the rape and sex abuse allegations from an ever-growing list of women that now includes supermodel Beverly Johnson.

Instead, Cosby, 77, said that the African-American media — for which this reporter often writes — should be impartial. “Let me say this. I only expect the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind,” Cosby said.

Read more: Bill Cosby expects black media to remain neutral

Cosby lawyer releases statement on latest rape allegations

In light of the spate of several women coming forward and accusing Bill Cosby of rape his lawyer, Martin Singer has released the following statement:

"The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40, or even 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity.

These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years.

Lawsuits are filed against people in the public eye every day. There has never been a shortage of lawyers willing to represent people with claims against rich, powerful men, so it makes no sense that not one of these new women who just came forward for the first time now ever asserted a legal claim back at the time they allege they had been sexually assaulted.

This situation is an unprecedented example of the media's breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration or adherence to traditional journalistic standards. Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end?

It is long past time for this media vilification of Mr. Cosby to stop."