Don Lemon Interview With Bill Cosby's Rape Victim: CNN Anchor Apologizes For Question After Major Backlash [VIDEO]
CNN’s Don Lemon addressed his comments to Bill Cosby’s rape victim Joan Tarshis a day after the controversial interview aired and left many outraged.
“As I am a victim myself, I would never want to suggest that any victim could’ve prevented a rape,” he said live on air Wednesday. “If my question to her struck anyone as insensitive, I am sorry as that certainly was not my attention.”
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The day before, Tarshis appeared on CNN for an interview with Lemon where she said she was assaulted by the comedian in 1969 when she was 19 years old. She recalled lying to Cosby and telling him she had an infection to prevent him from raping her. He then forced her to have oral sex.
“You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn't want to do it,” Lemon said.
Tarshis said, “I was kind of stoned at the time, and quite honestly, that didn't even enter my mind. Now, I wish it would have.”
Lemon’s response is what had many people scratching their head. “Meaning the using of the teeth, right?” he said.
The interview led to the hashtag #DonLemonReporting on Twitter and became a trending topic.
I mean, couldn't you just use a fire extinguisher to put the burning cross on your lawn out? #DonLemonReporting
— Elon James White (@elonjames) November 19, 2014
Don Lemon is why I don't watch CNN. The man is a pathetic joke. #donlemonreporting
— icebergslim (@icebergslim1047) November 19, 2014
Tarshis, however, told People magazine that she wasn't offended by Lemon's question, but she was taken aback.
"I was kinda shocked," she said. "And then a part of me thought, 'Damn, why didn't I think of that?' "
She added: "I was just so surprised because at first because I didn't know what he meant when he said, 'There are other ways of dealing with this.' ... I became flustered."
