WASHINGTON — The website for New York magazine went dark Monday morning in the wake of the publication’s latest cover featuring 35 women who have publicly accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault during the course of his long entertainment career.
A spokeswoman for the magazine confirmed the site had been experiencing “technical difficulties” and that the magazine was working to bring it fully online late Monday morning. She would not comment on social media speculation that the site was hacked because of the cover, or in the case of one report, by a guy named “ThreatKing,” who just hates New York City.
Nevertheless, the cover story and subsequent buzz is just one more chapter in an evolving drama for the once-beloved comedian who has spent the last several months defending his reputation against accelerating questions and attacks.
Cosby, a longtime married man with grown children, is accused of drugging, molesting and raping women at different times over the decades. So far 46 women have come forward.
And there is nothing like a magazine cover with three and a half rows of women, serious and steely eyed, to get a point across.
The headline on the magazine cover reads, “Cosby: The Women. An unwelcome sisterhood.”
The women appear in stark black and white, representing the enormity of the circumstances, their pain, and stakes at hand. And then there is the empty chair, presumably a placeholder for all the women who might yet tell their stories.
For months, Cosby has been on the defensive, calling his alleged victims liars and gold-diggers. He has denied all accusations against him.
But in July, a deposition in one of the myriad sex assault cases against him was released to the press. In his own words, Cosby revealed that he had purchased quaaludes in the 1970s with the intention of drugging women so he could have sex with them, though he never admits to doing it. He did acknowledge paying women to keep quiet about their claims. Any public supporters he had up to that point began to jump ship, tipping the scales more firmly toward his accusers.
Story authors Noreen Malone and Amanda Demme interviewed each of the 35 women about their experiences, which they describe in harrowing detail. Their individual portraits illustrate the women’s stories.
RT @WomensHealthMag 35 of Bill Cosby’s accusers band together: http://t.co/bUPx6LOeBT http://t.co/rY4xke2… | Wow! Can I join to your band?
— HealthyOregon.US (@healthyoregonUS) July 27, 2015
http://t.co/wKXuQ0ioq5 50 years, 46 women and a stunning New York Magazine cover: This is what it took for Bill Cosby’s accusers to final… — News, Views, People. (@TheCampaignPage) July 27, 2015
New York Magazine Goes Dark Online After Posting Cosby Article – http://t.co/vwPLFgHcVE
— mike spataro (@mikespataro) July 27, 2015
35 women speak about being assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the culture that wouldn’t listen: http://t.co/H5dss5F2F4 pic.twitter.com/RCF0BWBrxA — New York Magazine (@NYMag) July 27, 2015
TBH #theemptychair is making me cry. So many of us could be or are that person. Too many. It’s a painful image for so many reasons — afrobella (@afrobella) July 27, 2015
