Dave McNary/Variety/
Footage of Bill Cosby has been cut from the upcoming documentary “Painted Down “ about black stuntmen.
According to producer Nonie Robinson, the decision was made in the wake of recent revelations in unsealed court depositions that Cosby had drugged women with Quaaludes in order to have sex with them.
“It’s the right thing to do in light of the recent court deposition being made public,” she said.
Robinson, who is producing through her Painted Down Pictures banner, admitted that she had defended Cosby during earlier accusations of sexual assault against women. “We were hoping that the accusations would turn out to not be true,” she added.
In his interview for the documentary, Cosby said he became aware of the lack of black stuntmen when a white stuntman applied make-up in order to double for Cosby on the TV series “I Spy.”
“I looked at him and the lady is putting black – not a deep brown — she’s putting black around this guy, eyes and everything,” Cosby said in the interview for the documentary.
Cosby objected and a black stuntman was subsequently hired to double for him.
Robinson said she’s planning to take the documentary, which is in post-production, on the film festival circuit.
The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC