By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor
Though the media rollout on Variety, Hollywood Reporter and CBS was vigorous, ratings for W. Kamau Bell’s documentary “We Need to Talk About Cosby” were less than impressive. The series debuted on Showtime on January 30 and ran for four nights and six hours. W. Kamau Bell, a comedian with a show on CNN, was the director and producer of the docu-series.
The documentary project faced criticism on social media and by Black commentators with YouTube platforms. Regardless, celebrity-related documentaries are often big ratings hits on cable TV. The four-part documentary “We Need to Talk About Cosby” was an exception.
In comparison, Janet Jackson’s four-episode series, titled “Janet Jackson,” averaged 3.1 million viewers between Lifetime and A&E. The documentary garnered more than 15 million viewers overall and was a huge ratings hit. Jackson’s documentary included interviews with the star and exclusive anecdotes from her career.
The six-part documentary series “Surviving RKelly” by Dream Hampton, which aired on Lifetime in 2019 won an average of 2.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. “Among adults aged 25-54 and 18-49, 1.2 million tuned in; that includes 858,000 women aged 25-54 and 798,000 women 18-49,” wrote Variety in January 2019.
In the case of “We Need to Talk About Cosby” the ratings were low in comparison and no episode of the series reached over 200,000 viewers. Episode one earned 166,000 viewers, episode two earned 184,000 viewers, episode three won 126,000 viewers, and episode four, which aired on February 20, earned 145,000 viewers.
A repeated critique of Bell’s documentary heard on many of the videos by Black commentators reviewing “We Need to Talk About Cosby” is that others who have faced similar allegations regarding alleged criminal sexual behavior have not received similar media attention or deep dive documentary level analysis.
Critics of Bell’s documentary have brought up white males who have been accused, and in some cases convicted, of sexual violence including Harvey Weinstein (who was convicted in February 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison), Jeffrey Epstein, Roman Polanski (in 1977, he pled guilty to “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” involving a 13-year old), the Fox News executive Roger Ailes, former CBS executive Les Moonves, former CBS anchor Charlie Rose and director Woody Allen.
In addition to “Surviving RKelly” (who was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in Sept. 2021) there have been three other documentaries featuring accused Black men: “On the Record,” regarding allegations against Russell Simmons, “Leaving Neverland” regarding allegations against Michael Jackson. There was also a second “Surviving RKelly” documentary-series entitled “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning, which premiered on Lifetime on January 2, 2020.”
During an interview shortly before the documentary aired on Showtime, CBS correspondent Jericka Duncan asked Bell about why Cosby’s side was not included in the documentary. Bell answered that the documentary did include his views on the many controversial issues covered.
“It didn’t feel like if you were going to put the survivors in here that you also put Bill Cosby in here,” Bell answered Duncan.
In a 6-1 ruling on June 30, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s 2018 conviction of sexual assault (regarding Andrea Constand) and ruled that a controversial “non-prosecution agreement” with a previous prosecutor meant that a second set of charges against Cosby shouldn’t have moved forward. Cosby, then 83, served three years of a 10-year sentence in maximum-security in a prison near Philadelphia. Cosby returned home as Bell’s documentary was still in production.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke
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