The Cosby Bit

In October 2014, during a stand-up set at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, Buress went off-script to address Bill Cosby's public moralizing about the Black community. His point: Cosby lectures people about pulling their pants up while multiple women have accused him of drugging and assaulting them.

"Google 'Bill Cosby rape,'" Buress told the audience. "It's not funny. That shit has more results than Hannibal Buress."

An audience member filmed the clip. It went viral. Within weeks, more women came forward. Within months, the cultural conversation around Cosby had completely shifted. Within years, Cosby was convicted.

Buress didn't intend to start a movement. He was making a point about hypocrisy during a comedy set. But the clip proved something about the power of comedy: sometimes a comedian saying what journalists wouldn't is enough to change everything. Buress has spoken about the experience with characteristic understatement, treating his role in Cosby's downfall with the same deadpan he brings to bits about apple juice.