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Sideshow: Cosby meme invite backfires

On Monday, Bill Cosby's Twitter account said to his 3.9 million followers: "Happy Monday! Go ahead! Meme me!" It invited them to go to BillCosby.com's meme generator and pair an image of Cosby with their own texts. It all backfired, and how.

Entertainer and Navy veteran Bill Cosby speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at the The All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors in Philadelphia. Cosby told the crowd during a 20-minute address that “we don’t forget about ours,” as he spoke about the importance of the memorial along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Entertainer and Navy veteran Bill Cosby speaks during a Veterans Day ceremony, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014, at the The All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors in Philadelphia. Cosby told the crowd during a 20-minute address that “we don’t forget about ours,” as he spoke about the importance of the memorial along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)Read moreAP
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Not the memes the Coz had in mind

On Monday, Bill Cosby's Twitter account said to his 3.9 million followers: "Happy Monday! Go ahead! Meme me!" It invited them to go to BillCosby.com's meme generator and pair an image of Cosby with their own texts. It all backfired, and how.

Cosby got memes, all right. But many, many, many of them recalled accusations of sexual harassment against him by at least 13 women since 2002. Over the face of a smiling Coz in a flat cap: "IT'S NOT RAPE IF YOU'RE FAMOUS." Over a pic of Coz in one of his famous comfy sweaters: "MY TWO FAVORITE THINGS/ JELLO PUDDING AND RAPE."

To be as evenhanded as we can, some of this is the too-familiar meanness of Web trollery, folks who turn everything nasty. And Cosby has never been convicted of rape. In 2006, he settled out of court a lawsuit with Andrea Constand, a onetime Temple University employee. She said Cosby drugged and assaulted her at his Cheltenham home in 2004. Thirteen women were said to be ready to testify against Cosby, but they never did.

Stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress (Broad City) may have helped freshen the mess. On Oct. 16 he did a show at the Trocadero in which he called out Cosby for presuming to lecture black people (Cosby has been outspoken about bad behavior and parenting) while having a rep for sexual harassment. Buress was filmed saying: "He gets on TV, 'Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the '80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!' Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches." That landed Buress on Howard Stern's show and earned him some Twitter flare-up, too. Cosby's account has since taken down the invite to generate memes.

In other news . . .

Justin Bieber has paid an ex-neighbor in Calabasas, Calif., $80,000 for egging said nabe's house. Bieb's also doing community service and anger-management classes. . . . Yay, baby-making! We mean you, Leelee Sobieski and Adam Kimmel, having generated baby Martin in July. He joins 4-year-old sister Louisanna "Lewi" Ray. . . . Eminem's new vid has him freestylin' the following objectionable lyrics: "I'll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice like Ray Rice in broad daylight . . . ." People are objecting.