US President Barack Obama condemned the action that Bill Cosby admitted having done on women he had sex with but said he doesn't have the power to strip the defamed comedian of the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded him by his predecessor.
"I'll say this—if you give a woman or man, without his or her knowledge a drug, and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape," Obama said during a White House press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Fox News reported. "I think this country, any civilised country should have no tolerance for rape."
Cosby earlier admitted that he did give drugs to a number of women before engaging in sex with them.
However, Obama said he did not have the power to revoke Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom. "There is no precedent for revoking the medal. We don't have the mechanism," he told reporters.
Cosby received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President George W. Bush in 2002. The award is considered the nation's highest civilian honour. Because of the sexual assault allegations slapped against Cosby, many believe that the honour should be revoked because it was given under "false pretences."
Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment (PAVE) even formed an online petition urging Obama to act on this matter. "The White House was clearly not aware that Cosby would be accused of multiple counts of sexual violence. As such, we urge President Obama to take the unprecedented action of revoking this award and that Bill Cosby's name be expunged from any official lists of recipients," PAVE Executive Director Angela Rose said.
Over two dozen women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.
The accusations against Cosby prompted African-American network Bounce TV to stop airing the series "Cosby" indefinitely. Centric Network also decided to pull "The Cosby Show" off the air.
"Cosby" was first aired on CBS from 1996 to 2000, and starred the defamed personality and other stars including Phylicia Kim Rashard, Madeline Kahn, Junree Smollett, and many others. On the other hand, "The Cosby Show" aired from 1984 up until 1982.
