A mural of Bill Cosby in the comedian’s hometown of Philadelphia has been removed by the city after being tagged with the word “rapist.”
According to the Philadelphia Citypaper, the mural depicting Cosby in one of his trademark sweaters, was painted over after being defaced with graffiti reading “rapist” and “dude with ludes,” referencing the recently unsealed 2005 deposition in which the comedian admitted to obtaining Quaaludes to give to women with the intention of having sex with them.
The Mural Arts Program was already intending to remove the “Father’s Day” mural, which also featured Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, but accelerated the plans in light of the controversy surrounding Cosby.
Cosby’s 2005 deposition was a part of a sexual assault civil suit brought on by Temple University employee Andrea Constand. As part of his defense, Cosby admitted to giving an exclusive interview to The National Enquirer in exchange for the tabloid spiking a story about another alleged victim. The comedian also admitted that he contacted his agent at William Morris and instructed him to send money to a woman accusing him of rape.
The TV legend has been publicly accused of raping, drugging, coercing or sexually assaulting more than 30 different women since 1965, many of whom have only started to come forward in recent months. He has never been charged with any crimes in relation to any of the allegations.