Comedian/producer W. Kamau Bell examines the career and descent of comedian Bill Cosby in a new Showtime documentary series, We Need to Talk About Cosby, debuting January 30.

The four-part documentary series sheds new light on Cosby‘s cultural contributions as he gained infamy as a criminal defendant in a sexual assault prosecution, according to the premium service. The documentary features interviews with comedians, cultural commentators and journalists, as well as women who share their personal experiences with Cosby.

Bell recently spoke to Multichannel News to discuss what he hopes to accomplish with the documentary and what viewers should expect to see. An edited version of the interview appears below.

The full W. Kamau Bell interview can be heard via the Content Spotlight podcast.

MCN: What do you mean when you say, we need to talk about Bill Cosby?

W. Kamau Bell: Many of us have had little conversations about Cosby, or have had [private] conversations with trusted people. This to me is about inviting people to a conversation about all of Cosby in a way that we generally haven't had. It would be one thing to make a documentary that just focuses on the positives, and it'd be another thing to make a documentary that talks about the sexual assaults and the rapes that I believe he committed. I was trying to have the whole conversation, which is a challenge, because he had such a long career.

MCN: In your documentary, you ask everyone, ‘Who is Bill Cosby now?’ So I‘m asking you the same question: who is Bill Cosby now? 

WKB: For me, the film is my answer. He is a man who is celebrated for what he did to uplift black people. He was a man who was celebrated for his transformational performances and for his incredible performances. He was a man who was celebrated for his philanthropy. For a time, he was labeled America's dad at a time when other black people on TV were being discarded and literally being chased on the news. At the same token, he's a man who I have learned and believe was, behind the scenes, sexually assaulting, grooming, and raping women – at least more than 60 that we know about. 

He is a man who was sent to prison and is now out of prison, and we have to figure out what we can learn from this whole thing. That's the important part for me is what can we learn from this so that we can create a society that is safer and more supportive of women overall, but also for survivors of sexual assault and rape overall. And even below that, a part of this is about the way in which America has a toxic relationship with just sex and sexual and intimate relationships period, that goes all the way down to sex education that kids get in school.

MCN: What do you hope that people get out of this documentary?

WKB: America often says it‘s time to have a conversation about something big, and when the conversation happens, we feel like we‘ve accomplished something. Conversations don't mean anything, obviously, without going, ‘What have we learned, and how can we apply this knowledge in the real world?‘ So for me, hopefully, there is some level of conversation that comes out of this film that is about specifically holding my industry more accountable for creating a safe and productive environment, and creating ways in which people who have been sexually assaulted or raped have real recourse. But then you‘ve got to talk about the criminal justice system. We don‘t even really have rehab or recompense that‘s true justice for survivors of sexual assault, or is there a way to rehab this individual other than just putting them in prison? I think these are conversations that are way bigger than Bill Cosby, which is why the film is about conversations about what happened and not a conversation with Bill Cosby. It‘s like, how can we learn from this as a way to create a safer, healthier America, and not just to learn about whether it’s okay to watch Bill Cosby content? ■ 

Michael Corn, president of news at Nexstar's NewsNation cable network, was accused in a lawsuit filed Wednesday of sexually assaulting an ABC News staffer when Corn was senior executive producer at ABC's Good Morning America, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Corn denied the allegations in a statement, the newspaper said.

Corn left ABC in April and joined NewsNation in May.

"We have no comment on anything that may or may not have happened prior to Mr. Corn's employment with Nexstar," a Nexstar spokesman said.

The suit, which also names ABC parent The Walt Disney Co., was filed by Kirstyn Crawford, a producer at GMA. She alleges that Corn assaulted her during a business trip in 2015. The suit also alleges Corn sexually assaulted former ABC News producer Jill McClain when McClain and Corn worked together at ABC's World News Tonight. 

According to the WSJ, ABC officials were informed about Crawford's complaints in 2017. An investigation into Corn was started this year after Crawford and McClain filed formal complaints to the network. 

Crawford is seeking unspecified damages.

In the suit, she alleges that she and Corn were covering the Academy Awards in Los Angeles. On the way back to their hotel after a party, she says Corn was intoxicated and forcibly touched her, kissing her head and rubbing her legs and telling her he wanted to help her with her career, the paper said.

When they got to the hotel, Crawford went to Corn’s room because he asked for Advil. He asked her to sit on his bed. When she did, he grabbed her arm and began kissing the top of her head, the paper said, citing the suit.

In the statement sent to the paper, Corn cited emails Crawford sent to him he claims prove the alleged incident didn't occur.

Actor Bill Cosby is set to be released from prison after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction on Wednesday.

Cosby, 83, served nearly three years of the 10-year sentence rendered after the iconic comedian and actor was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. Overall, more than 50 women have come forward with sexual assault claims against Cosby, although the statute of limitations had run out on most of those claims.

According to the New York Times, the Pennsylvania appeals court said that a “non-prosecution agreement” struck with a previous prosecutor in 2005 meant that Cosby should not have been charged in the case. The court also barred a retrial in the case, according to the Times.

Also Read: Bill Cosby Found Guilty in Sexual Assault Trial

After Cosby's 2018 conviction, several networks dropped reruns of the actor's successful 1980s comedy series The Cosby Show.

The Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, district attorney Kevin Steele issued a statement about Cosby's release: "He was found guilty by a jury and now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime. I want to commend Cosby's victim Andrea Constand for her bravery in coming forward and remaining steadfast throughout this long ordeal, as well as all of the other women who have shared similar experiences."

"My hope is that this decision will not dampen the reporting of sexual assaults by victims. Prosecutors in my office will continue to follow the evidence wherever and to whomever it leads. We still believe that no one is above the law-including those who are rich, famous and powerful," Steele said, as reported by WPVI in Philadelphia among other outlets. 

R&B singer R. Kelly Friday was charged in Chicago in connection with sexual abuse charges involving four female victims, according to published reports.

A Cook County, Illinois judge charged Kelly -- one of the most successful recording artists of all time --  with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse  involving three minors and one adult, according to CNN.

Kelly has faced much scrutiny over his relationships with women recently since Lifetime aired a six-part Surviving R Kelly documentary last month, which chronicled testimony from women who charged the singer allegedly held them captive and sexually abused them.

Kelly, who has been dogged by sexual abuse allegations for decades but has always denied any wrongdoing, was acquitted in a 2008 trial in which he was charged with several counts of child pornography.

Lifetime’s Surviving R Kelly docu series averaged 2.1 million viewers in its Nielsen live+same day premieres, and finished as the female-targeted network’s strongest non-fiction series in seven years among adults 25-54 and women 25-54 according to Nielsen.