Jay Leno backs women accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault
Jay Leno has backed the women who claim Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them and said people should seriously listen to the accusers. But he's not the first comic to weigh in on the Cosby scandal. Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock have all expressed their opinions.
Now, three months after video of comedian Hannibal Buress sparked the entire fallout, the former "Tonight Show" host as well as a member of Cosby's TV family is speaking out, CBS News' Jericka Duncan reports.
At the National Association of Television Program Executives in Miami, Leno was asked about the sexual allegations against Cosby.
"I don't know why it's so hard to believe women," Leno said. "I mean, you go to Saudi Arabia, and you need two women to testify against a man. Here, you need 25."
Leno also referenced a comment made by Buress.
"When you leave here, Google 'Bill Cosby rapist,'" Buress said.
It reflects the way information is now often shared: unedited and online.
"Because somebody just filmed it and put it out there, you're getting your news raw and unfiltered, which I think is fantastic," Leno said.
Stephen Colbert's successor on Comedy Central, Larry Wilmore, echoed Leno's sentiments earlier in the week.
"Why aren't people listening to these women?" he said. "Is it because he's so famous? Or is it just because they're women? Because I would say enough have come forward."
Over the past three months, more than two dozen women have alleged they were drugged, assaulted and/or raped by Cosby beginning in the 1970s.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who starred as Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," broke his own silence in an interview with Billboard magazine published Wednesday online:
"Just as it's painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it's just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this ... The Bill Cosby I know has been great to me and great for a lot of people. I can't speak on the other stuff."
"CBS This Morning" reached out to Cosby's representatives, who said they have no comment at this time.