Jay Leno Sounds off on Bill Cosby Scandal 4

By Bill Harris
Toronto Sun
August 13, 2015

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/08/13/jay-leno-sounds-off--on-bill-cosby-scandal

Calif. – Jay Leno wonders why we believe men who say they were raped by priests decades ago, but we don't tend to believe women who say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby decades ago.

“Well, 50 women come forward and people call them liars,” said Leno, the former host of The Tonight Show, at the Television Critics Association tour on Thursday. “And they go, 'Oh, you waited 40 years.' You know, men waited 50 years to say, 'A priest touched me.' And they got 7 million dollars.

“How come we believe them and we don't believe the women? You know, it does seem awful sexist to me. A woman says, 'Oh, this happened to me, but I was too ashamed to say anything.' Oh, you're lying. But a man says it? 'Oh, when I was 12 a priest raped me,' or whatever it might be, then we have sympathy. It does seem terribly sexist that way. It does seem very unfair, and I'm surprised no one has ever made that analogy.

“Look, Bill Cosby is a wonderful comedian and he was always a very nice man. I feel as bad about this as anybody does. And that's the sad part.”

Leno was on hand at the TCA tour to promote his new car-focused series Jay Leno's Garage, which debuts Oct. 7 on cable channel CNBC. He made his comments about Cosby in a scrum with reporters following his panel session.

During the panel, when asked about his obsession with cars, Leno explained, “It's cheaper than coke and hookers.”

CNBC, of course, is part of the NBC family, where Leno used to host The Tonight Show. He essentially was forced to retire twice, despite ratings success. When asked about the insurance waivers for Jay Leno's Garage, Leno quipped, “NBC has been trying to kill me for years.”

Leno used the phrase “terrific job” to describe both how Jimmy Fallon is doing as the current host of The Tonight Show, and how he thinks Stephen Colbert will do when he takes over The Late Show on CBS next month.

But Leno added, “The idea of a white guy in late night, this is revolutionary. I would like to see a bit more diversity. We're certainly ready for a female host.”

Contact: bill.harris@sunmedia.ca