Last night, I attended a large family gathering, where one of the more popular topics of conversation was the Bill Cosby scandal.

Perhaps the funniest line came from my brother-in-law. He said he wishes that TV newscasts would stop showing close-ups of Cosby's dot-riddled face.

One of my brothers speculated about whether Cosby has glaucoma. And if this is the case, my brother wondered why someone as rich as Cosby can't afford to have it treated.

Inevitably, there were comparisons to Jian Ghomeshi, another celebrity who's become notorious for his treatment of women.

As the only person in the room who works in the media, I was asked if I had any insights.

Having never met Ghomeshi, there wasn't much I could add that hadn't already been said.

I've privately wondered when two of CBC's top executives, president and CEO Hubert Lacroix and executive vice president of English services Heather Conway, became aware of a Toronto Star investigation into Ghomeshi's conduct. Reporter Kevin Donovan had been working on the story for months before Ghomeshi was canned.

I know nothing about the Cosby story apart from what I've heard about in the media.

The most complete account to date is in the Washington Post, which has reported that 13 women have come forward with sexual-assault allegations.

Cosby's lawyer, Martin Singer, has issued a statement saying the "new, never-before-heard claims" are "unsubstantiated, fantastical stories", which "have escalated far past the point of absurdity".

"These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years," Singer maintained.

He noted that lawsuits are filed every day against people in the public eye and there has never been a shortage of lawyers willing to represent them.

"This situation is an unprecedented example of the media's breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration or adherence to traditional journalistic standards," Singer added. "Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end?"

Cosby's fatherly image was shaped by his role as Cliff Huxtable, the lovable dad on The Cosby Show. But he wasn't always seen this way.

The Washington Post pointed out that in the late 1960s, Cosby was the epitome of cool, winning three Emmys for his role as the well-travelled Alexander Scott on the show I Spy. Cosby became an icon for becoming the first African American to appear in a network series on an equal basis with his white counterpart.

"He partied with Hugh Hefner and was a regular at the magazine mogul’s Playboy Mansion bacchanals," the paper reported. "He co-owned a restaurant and hit the hottest clubs. He sizzled."

The publisher of the Georgia Straight, Dan McLeod, interviewed Cosby in 1990 just before the release of Ghost Dad, which was directed by Bahamian-American superstar Sidney Poitier. 

"Sidney and I have done four films, and we play tennis together in Nassau," Cosby said at the time. "We call each other liars on line calls. We've had dinner together many times. Sidney has never picked up a cheque, and I guess he never will. But there's a respect, and fun, to this relationship."

Poitier, 87, has a bridge named after him in Nassau. He's now his country's ambassador to Japan.

Coincidentally, Cosby recently tried to boost his image in Nassau, performing a comedy show there last week to raise funds for a women's organization.

McLeod's interview with Cosby for Ghost Dad revealed that he had a love scene with Denise Nicholas that wasn't included in the film.

"We had to take it out in order to get a Cosby PG [rating]," the actor said. "I also wrote a line where I called my daughter's boyfriend 'a walking penis', but that had to come out, too. I don't mind that, because I don't want a five-year-old to sit with the parent and enjoy the picture without the parent thinking that he made a mistake."

McLeod asked Cosby why he even bothered shooting the love scene in the first place.

"Because we didn't know about the Cosby PG," the star replied. "There's an Arnold Schwarzenegger PG, there's a Tom Cruise PG, and there's a Cosby PG. And it's all built on who the MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America] thinks will come into the theatre when they see the name of the star. Arnold can be under the sheets making love with no clothes on, as long as they don't pull the sheets down, and his film will get a PG. But Bill Cosby can't even be in the bed with all his clothes on."

As for the newest allegations, Cosby isn't responding.

"I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos," Cosby told Florida Today.