r/interesting • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 10h ago

SOCIETY In 2018, a customer secretly photographed Geoffrey Owens best known for playing Elvin on the Cosby Show working at a Trader Joe's in Clifton, New Jersey, and the images were published online in an attempt to "job-shame" him. Instead, he was able to get more work as an actor because of it.

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He went on to explain that most actors and indeed most entertainers are gig workers. For every a-lister many other actors work gig to gig and having steady work and a steady income that pays well is really hard because the field is so unpredictable. And many actors including many well know actors and artists have to have a secondary source of regular income between gigs and for most working entertainers it means getting a regular job and taking whatever roles you can get.

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u/Ohnoanywayz 8h ago

I remember (I’m an old) when the show aired-I didn’t watch it too often myself but I think a lot of people don’t realize how immensely popular it was. So the whole thing was extra shocking and weird.
I felt bad for the other actors that had to deal when all that went down. :(
Apparently Lisa Bonet (iirc) refused to comment so one wonders if he tried shit on her, too.

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u/braaaaaains 7h ago

What’s interesting is how he publicly criticized her for some R rated movie she made, doing a racy photoshoot for Rolling stone He even got mad when she got married and then pregnant. They wouldn’t write the pregnancy into the Cosby Show spin off she was in and that basically forced her off the show.

It was just always in the news that that he had some beef with her during that period and that she was ruining the wholesome image of the show. Anyway, I guess we can all see that he projecting now.

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u/sacredblasphemies 6h ago

I know. That was Cosby's reputation.

He shamed Eddie Murphy for using swear words in his act and Eddie turned it into a classic bit. Well before the general public was aware of Cosby's OTHER reputation. Of course, his bit is even funnier now that we know Bill was drugging and raping women the entire time.

Because it's SO shitty and hypocritical for someone doing that to act as some sort of moral authority.

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u/MiggyEvans 3h ago

Bill Cosby had a joke in his standup about drugging women with Spanish Fly.

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u/Ohnoanywayz 5h ago

Was that Eddie’s joke about Richard Pryor?
Iirc Bill criticized Richard also.

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u/sacredblasphemies 5h ago

He did both Eddie and Richard.

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u/Ohnoanywayz 4h ago

I remember Eddie’s joke about Richard Pryor, something like, Have a Coke and a smile mf

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u/HonoluluSolo 6h ago

Projecting and... jealous? That she wasn't hiding her sexuality and willingly attracting attention from others beside himself? One wonders...

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u/Ohnoanywayz 6h ago

Yes! I remember that too and thought that was weird.

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u/e60deluxe 3h ago

He also wrote Sondra AFTER the pilot because he decided after the fact that actually, that the Huxtables need to have their first child be perfect and not Denise

The guy was literally obsessed with showing the world perfection

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u/issacsullivan 7h ago

The show is great! Just hard to stomach now that we know our collective dad, handing out good advice, was out there just raping everyone.

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u/Coal_Morgan 7h ago

Loved the show as well.

One of the all time great sitcoms but watching an episode and wondering how many people he's raped by this point or will go onto rape...it sucks any enjoyment that can be had.

I can't separate the art and the artist in this case because of how genuinely 'great' I thought he was when I was young.

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u/issacsullivan 6h ago

I think because his character asked us to trust him as a moral authority figure and it is super hard to have the same emotional connection now.

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u/PassiveMenis88M 3h ago

I remember (I’m an old) when the show aired-I didn’t watch it too often myself but I think a lot of people don’t realize how immensely popular it was

To help put into context just how popular it was my father, a racist at the time but we fixed that, watched the Cosby show every time it was on.

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u/FatJuggernaut-916 5h ago

The show fell off after s2 and especially with the Elvin character.