Ebony's November Issue Responds To Bill Cosby Controversy With Epic Cover

Once-beloved-now-condemned comedian Bill Cosby has graced the cover of EBONY Magazine five times since the early 60s.

Past features touted him as a “family man” and “TV's top dad,” and an influential figure in the African-American community.

EBONY's November 2015 cover, however, a shattered portrait of "The Cosby Show's" Huxtable family, sings to a different tune:

#CosbyVsCliff - Can "The Cosby Show" survive the fall of its biggest star? http://t.co/ALEaVEslpO pic.twitter.com/ntL4qTrotV — EBONY MAGAZINE (@EBONYMag) October 15, 2015

Journalist Goldie Taylor discusses the consequences of Cosby's fall from grace by juxtaposing the real Bill Cosby, alleged serial rapist, with his “Cosby Show” character, Heathcliff Huxtable, family man.

Taylor shared with followers on Twitter, "[It was] both an honor and a challenge to write this month's @EbonyMag cover story..."

The magazine released an excerpt from the feature, which begins,

Nearly two decades after Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report on Black life in America and in the midst of President Ronald Reagan's “war on drugs,” network honchos at NBC took a huge gamble: They put a strong, loving and successful Black family on prime-time television.

...Now, some three decades later, as Cosby stands accused of sexually assaulting at least 40 women, Black America is left to grapple with his once-unimpeachable legacy. If Bill Cosby is finished, what does that mean for Cliff, and the rest of the tribe called Huxtable?

You can read the full story in the November 2015 issue of EBONY.

Citations: [COVER STORY] Cliff-Hanger: Can 'The Cosby Show' Survive? Should It? (EBONY), Powerful EBONY Cover Captures the Fractured Legacy of 'The Cosby Show' (Complex)