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*Responding to an article first published by WENN and reprinted here at EURweb; Bill Cosby called our own Lee Bailey to set the record straight regarding allegations that he once tried to blackball/blacklist actor Terrence Howard.
"I don't like something being out there that I know for sure isn't true," said Cosby, explaining his reason for contacting us yesterday afternoon.
As previously reported, Howard was quoted as saying he confronted Cosby to ask why his small guest role on "The Cosby Show" ended up on the editing room floor. Howard explained: “I told him, ‘I’m a man just like you.’ He didn’t like it, and the casting agent [Hughes Moss Casting] never took my calls again.” Howard said he didn't get another Hollywood gig for the next four years.
Cosby told us he has no recollection of the conversation with the 19-year-old Howard, does not remember Howard coming to his office and has never attempted to prevent any actor from booking gigs, strictly out of spite.
"There's no person that I know of that I've ever felt strongly enough to call – even [to] the Hughes Moss people – and say, 'If this guy calls, don't book him again,'" Cosby told EUR. "And I don't like what's out there because I think with today's media, there's a ton of life a piece can have.
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Terrence Howard
Cosby said he called Howard, who was in Italy, to find out why he (Howard) made those comments.
"The young man said to me on the phone, 'Mr. Cosby, [in] the conversation we had, you gave me information that was valuable,' recalls Cosby, adding that Howard said he "tells people this."
"I said 'Well yeah, Terrence, but look, this is out there. And then you say, "You're a man just like I am,"' and he didn't [have anything to] say about that. And I said, 'They're making it sound like I blackballed you.' And I said, 'Terrence, there's no way that you can prove that.'"
Asked by Bailey if Howard ever denied saying the quotes from the WENN article, Cosby replied, "He didn't say that he didn't say it. What he said was, 'Mr. Cosby, the information you gave me was sort of like priceless, and it was a lesson in the business. You said son, things like this will happen.' And I do know he said, with people on the phone, he said that I told him to keep trying, keep plugging. That's what he said."
Bailey told Cosby that he received a call from Howard's publicist denying that the actor ever said what was printed in the WENN story, and requesting that the article be taken down immediately. Bailey declined, as there was no proof that the story was false, and instead asked the rep to provide a statement from Howard denying the story so that EUR could post it as his official response. Bailey said the publicist told him, "We're not prepared to do that."
"Somewhere, there's something missing," Cosby said. "And that is somebody saying either I never said those things, or, I'm sorry. And it's taking too long. And these blogs go out, man. I don't want people looking at Bill Cosby talking about, 'I had people barred.' It just gets too far out."
Cosby put us in contact with Barry Moss, who says he, too, doesn't remember the comedian coming to him with orders to blackball an actor. He tried calling Howard after finding out about the drama yesterday, but had not received a call back as of press time last night.
"I have a call in to my other assistant to see if she remembers anything, but I certainly don't, and I know that if this had happened, it would've gotten in to me," Moss told Bailey in a separate phone call. "I mean I know that if she had talked to him and not me, she would've told me about it. So I don’t know what the bottom of this is. If Terrence does call me, I'll find out."
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-------- ABFF 2008 --------
The 12th annual American Black Film Festival
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submission is now open. Registration
discounts are available through May 15.
For information visit www.abff.com