Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Did Bill Cosby Use a Jewish Alias?

A Bill Cosby deposition from a decade ago has revealed some pretty damning facts.

In short, the man who, for years, presented himself as America’s nice-guy dad, had no qualms about seducing women with the use of powerful drugs and fame, all while maintaining that he is not, in fact, a sexual predator. As the Times put it, he “suggested he was skilled in picking up the nonverbal cues that signal a woman’s consent.”

Amid all the stories of supposed “seduction,” one strange detail stands out: It seems that throughout the 1970s and ’80s, Cosby would use the distinctively Jewish-sounding alias Seymour Rapaport while traveling.

Another strange revelation? His penchant for sweatpants – he apparently owns over 100 pairs.

These seemingly innocuous tidbits peppered throughout the 1,000-page deposition highlight Cosby’s casual tone. As the Times reports, he seems to be operating under an attitude of “casual indifference,” (at one point,the plaintiff’s lawyer calls him out on it.)

The case, settled in 2006 under undisclosed terms, was brought by plaintiff Andrea Costand, a Temple University basketball manager who said that Cosby drugged and molested her. 13 women reportedly came forward in support of Costand, saying that Cosby had similarly sedated and sexually assaulted them.

In the deposition, Cosby claimed that his employees “could choose” whether or not to sign confidentiality agreements.

As of July 2015, 36 women have come forward saying that Cosby molested them, including actress and publicist Joan Tarshis. The “short dark haired Jewish girl, ” (as she described herself in a 2013 video clip) wrote an essay in 2014 accusing Cosby of raping her twice when she was 19 years old.

Earlier this month, newly released court documents showed that Cosby admitted that he had obtained Quaaludes with the intention of using them on women he wanted to have sex with.

The revelation has caused many to distance themselves from the comedian, including Disney, which removed a statue of Cosby from its Hollywood Studio theme park.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.