On stage, comic Hannibal Buress usually tackles slice of life stuff with a decidedly absurdist twist. However, during his Thursday night show in Philadelphia, Buress’ set took a distinct turn toward a grittier reality as he unleashed a scathing verbal assault against comedy legend and hometown hero, Bill Crosby.
As Complex points out, the crux of Buress’ rant was that he finds Cosby’s self-established position as a family-friendly role model rather hypocritical, given that Cosby’s been accused of rape by 13 separate women since the mid-1970s. He went as far to call Cosby a “rapist,” and encouraged audience members to do their own research. “You leave here and Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny. That shit has more results than Hannibal Buress.”
Buress also called out Cosby for using his fame and standing as a sitcom icon as an excuse to talk down to younger black people.
Below, you can read the full transcript of Buress’ tirade and watch by fan-shot footage of the rant.
Thirteen? And it’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the fucking smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. 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 raped women, Bill Cosby. So, brings you down a couple notches.
I don’t curse on stage. Well, yeah, you’re a rapist, so, I’ll take you sayin’ lots of motherfuckers on Bill Cosby: Himself if you weren’t a rapist. … I want to just at least make it weird for you to watch Cosby Show reruns. … I’ve done this bit on stage, and people don’t believe. People think I’m making it up. … That shit is upsetting. If you didn’t know about it, trust me. You leave here and google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny. That shit has more results than Hannibal Buress.
Buress is currently on the road for his “Comedy Camisado” tour, which runs through November 22nd in Mashantucket, CT. Consult the full schedule here.
