Bill Cosby coming to southern Ontario amid rape accusations
Hamilton, Kitchener and London among the upcoming dates not cancelled
Bill Cosby is scheduled to perform in three Southern Ontario cities in January despite ongoing sexual abuse allegations against the 77-year-old comedian.
Cosby is accused of raping more than a dozen women since the 1960s, though he is not facing any criminal charges and none of the charges has been proven in court. The allegations surfaced as Cosby mounted a comeback, with several television projects that have since been cancelled and a 36-city tour which he is currently on.
Though several dates on the tour have been cancelled as a result of the public backlash — Cosby's appearances at casinos in Las Vegas and Tucson, Ariz., were cancelled last week, and shows in Washington State and another at a casino in Connecticut on Jan. 31 have been postponed “indefinitely.”
But Hamilton, Kitchener and London remain on the Cosby tour in January, 2015.
Megan Walker, the executive director of the London Abused Women's Centre, is calling for a boycott of that city's event.
"I think it's time this community stood up and said 'we're not going,'" Walker said. "Maybe that concert will have to be cancelled because of poor ticket sales."
So far, the venue, Budweiser Gardens, said it has no plans to cancel the show.
In Kitchener, Ont., the Centre In The Square venue has also rejected calls to cancel its Cosby show.
There, the venue said that breaking their contract with the promoter would incur heavy costs.
In Hamilton, Ont., that city's Cosby venue, Hamilton Place, has said the show will go on and it will not comment further.
Cosby's shows since the news of the allegations have intensified, however, have been successful. Friday night in Melbourne, Fla., began and ended with standing ovations from the adoring crowd.
There are 28-dates left on his tour. His shows often skip larger metropolitan areas for smaller outlying cities like Kitchener or his most recent show in Florida.
Seven Cosby shows have been cancelled since the rape accusations have resurfaced.