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You’d think that, in this TMZ-fueled age, movie and pop stars could do little that isn’t salaciously spread across the internet. But if the celebrity press goes overboard, the establishment press does worse: It often lets stars with dubious pasts off the hook completely.

Remember Anthony Weiner, the married Democratic congressman who sent an intimate picture of himself to young women over Twitter? The scandal vaporized his career and will no doubt land in the first paragraph of his obituary. As a long-time arts and culture writer, I’m struck by how different that was from the way another celebrity scandal was handled recently. Bill Cosby is back in the public eye. As we hit the 30th anniversary of The Cosby Show, his ’80s-era sitcom, with its groundbreaking portrayal of a comfortable black American family, Cosby made the rounds of the talk shows, from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to The Colbert Report. The author of a new biography, Mark Whitaker, made the rounds as well, and his book won a coveted review in the Sunday New York Times.

And yet one could scan the review, catch an interview with Cosby, even read the full 500-plus-page biography — and never hear about a slate of sexual assault allegations that have been leveled against the star. Whittaker doesn’t mention the charges. The New York Times Book Review didn’t either. TV hosts like Fallon and Colbert took a pass as well.

Here’s what you didn’t hear: In 2004, a young female friend of Cosby’s filed a police report in Pennsylvania, alleging that the star had sexually assaulted her. The police declined to file charges, citing insufficient evidence; the woman eventually went after Cosby in civil court.

Eventually three more women came forward publicly to support the first. Their stories were similar: Each said they’d found their mobility impaired after the comedian had given them pills or a drink and were subsequently assaulted. As the case neared trial, the woman’s lawyer released a witness list that included nine more “Jane Does” — women the attorney said would come forward to testify that they, too, had undergone similar behavior at the hands of Bill Cosby.

The charges were striking, given Cosby’s family-friendly material and avuncular persona. The star, through representatives, vociferously denied them. (As of publication, his publicist had not returned our request for comment.) As the civil case neared trial, with at least one supporting witness flying in to testify — the case was settled, under undisclosed terms. The other “Jane Does” have never come forward.

But until a strange turn of events this fall (more on that later) most people didn’t know about this odd turn in Cosby’s career. (Hardly anyone I’ve asked knows about it.) A few general-interest news outlets took the story on at the time of the charges: The Today Show, for example, ran a piece in 2005, with the accuser interviewed on camera; People magazine weighed in with a heavily reported story in 2006. As recently as this February, Newsweek reporter Katie Baker interviewed two of Cosby’s accusers. Otherwise, with the exception of a few pugnacious websites, the charges are hardly ever brought up. If the star himself has ever had to address them personally, I haven’t seen it. When Cosby has been the guest on TV shows, his hosts have graciously not asked the uncomfortable questions. Oprah Winfrey, the late Tim Russert, and CNN’s Don Lemon have all interviewed Cosby at length without bringing up the sexual assault charges. (Ironically, all of the appearances were to promote Cosby’s campaign for better behavior in the black community.) On the local level journalists take a pass as well: Here, for example, is a recent Arizona Republic chat with the star, helpfully promoting an appearance in a Phoenix suburb and not mentioning anything about the assault allegations.

The omissions should rankle journalistic nerve endings. The charges were made on the record; their sheer number makes them newsworthy. (People magazine said its story was based on interviews with five women.) Why has Cosby never been queried about the matter, even as he continues to present himself in media appearances as a family man pointing fingers at others in the African-American community? A few high-toned outlets did due diligence. The Wall Street Journal discussed the allegations in its review of the book. A daily review in the NYT duly cited them, as did a lengthy essay on Cosby for The New Yorker. Otherwise, it fell to online outlets to follow the story. Over the course of a recent phone interview, I asked Whitaker why he didn’t include the episode in his book.

Bill Wyman is a cultural critic for Al Jazeera America, and the former arts editor of NPR and Salon.com