What We Know About the Models Sent to Bill Cosby’s Dressing Room

Portrait of Jennifer Zhan
By Jennifer Zhan, a Vulture news blogger covering TV, movies and music

Bill Cosby cemented his nickname and reputation as “America’s Dad” with his role as Cliff Huxtable, the beloved father on NBC’s 1984–1992 hit series The Cosby Show. Today, however, the comedian is known for dozens of allegations of sexual assault against him (all of which he has continuously denied). Cosby served nearly three years in prison for sexual assault before being released in 2021; the conviction was overturned because a prosecutor had promised not to charge him.

W. Kamau Bell’s four-part Showtime docuseries, We Need to Talk About Cosby, tracks Cosby’s rise and fall from public grace. The third episode, out February 13, focuses on the success of The Cosby Show and includes allegations that Cosby behaved inappropriately on the very set where he built his reputation as a wholesome father. The show began filming in Brooklyn but eventually moved to a larger studio in Queens. By then, much of America was familiar with the Huxtables and their weekly antics. According to the documentary, the highest-rated episode of The Cosby Show had 65 million viewers, about a quarter of the U.S. population at the time.

Some women have meaningful that Cosby made unwanted advances toward them on set. Many people who worked on the show, both on and off camera, describe the constant presence of young models in the show’s audience. Here, a list of people involved in the show — including Cosby himself — who have acknowledged the arrangement that regularly brought models to Cosby’s dressing room.