NBC Boss Bob Greenblatt Explains Decision To Cut Ties With Bill Cosby Sitcom

NBC boss Bob Greenblatt opened up to Television Critics on Friday about dropping the Bill Cosby sitcom that had been in development for the network.

“Fifteen women came out and accused him of you know, having done, you know, what they accused him of,” the NBC Entertainment Chairman told reporters about what went on behind the scenes in coming to the decision to drop the planned Cosby sitcom.

Greenblatt told reporters that they had, “heard some of those accusations and we knew there were a couple of settlements,” and it didn’t seem to be, “the sort of thing that was, you know, critical mass,” he said. Cosby has not been charged and his attorney has denied claims of abuse.
However, when the accusations against Cosby escalated, that’s when the network decided to cut ties.

PHOTOS: Bill Cosby Over The Years

“When we realized that there seemed to be so much more of it, it wasn’t something that we could just go, ‘Oh, we’re not sure,” he said.

“He hasn’t been sort of proven guilty of anything, so I don’t want to be the one that says, ‘guilty until proven innocent,’ but when that many people come out and you know, have similar complaints and it becomes such a tainted situation, you know there was no way that we could move forward with this,” he added.

WATCH: Judd Apatow & Leslie Mann Slam Bill Cosby

Greenblatt noted that the network was only in the process of “developing a script,” and they had not reached a stage where they had a first draft.

“It wasn’t something that was imminently going forward or even into production and you know, I guess I can only say that I’m glad that we’re, you know, out from under that,” he said.

In November 2014, NBC announced it would not move forward in developing the Cosby sitcom.

— Jolie Lash