While I do think there is too much fixation on celebrity in America, and it's acute in the black community, and that fixation also carries over to political celebrities as well (i.e. Obamas and Trump), I do think people have a right to criticize the Cosby situation if they feel he has been unfairly prosecuted and if they feel there has been unequal justice. From Cosby defenders or skeptics of the Cosby trial/verdict I see they are coming more from that angle as opposed to sweeping away his moral failings. Cosby's personal moral failings in terms of infidelity are not a crime, and also as our societies' views evolve on sexual relations/relationships, the old stigmas aren't there as much as they once were for certain behaviors (Thirty years ago Gary Hart's presidential hopes were destroyed by his alleged infidelity-to my knowledge he still denies it, but only the next election, did we elect Bill Clinton, and now we have Trump. When I was a teen, teenage pregnancy was not something to be proud of, but today we have a show like Teen Mom. And we also have Amber Rose proudly promoting her "Slutwalks", so I feel we are in the midst of a some major changes in how we view sex and relationships).
I also think some of the furious defense of black celebrities is a response to the fact that many know they will be pilloried by the media and white society. And Chris Brown's reputation for example never has recovered, in the mainstream, and it took a minute for him to be accepted-if fully at all-in the black community again. During that time period even Tom Joyner was refusing to play his music, and I am sure there are some quarters of black thought that are still not going to invite Brown to the 'proverbial cookout' whereas there are others who feel black celebrities need extra support because they won't get it otherwise. White celebrities are given passes or are forgiven, or their crimes aren't reported as zealously as crimes committed by black celebrities. Look how TMZ makes mockery of black celebrities every day, but it's not the same for whites, unless they've really done something that can't be prettied up or safely ignored.
