Video
Kevin Slane

CNN anchor Don Lemon played host to Joan Tarshis, the most recent of 14 women to come forward with sexual assault accusations against comedian Bill Cosby, on his show last night. Tarshis already shared her story of allegedly being drugged and raped by the star in a lengthy essay, but Lemon had a few questions. Namely, why didn’t she bite Bill Cosby’s penis when he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex?

Despite the fact that Tarshis, who is 5’3 and was 19 years old at the time of the alleged incident, Lemon entered this line of questioning as to whether she could have done more to prevent the assault, namely biting Cosby’s Jello pudding pop. Here’s the full excerpt from the segment.

DL: “Can I ask you this? And please, I don’t mean to be crude, OK? You said this last night, that you lied to him and said, ‘I have an infection, and if you rape me, or if you do — if you have intercourse with me, then you will probably get it and give it to your wife.’ [Cosby allegedly then forced Tarshis to perform oral sex instead.] “You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it.”

JT: “Oh. I was kind of stoned at the time, and quite honestly, that didn’t even enter my mind. Now I wish it would have.”

DL: “Right. Meaning the using of the teeth, right?”

JT: “Mmmhmm, yes, I didn’t even think of it. Ouch. It didn’t cross my mind.”

Lemon’s line of questioning is a classic example of victim-blaming, most often employed when people question sexual assault victims about what they were wearing or whether they had been drinking — in other words, whether they were asking for it.

Asking sexual assault victims about their wardrobe choice is one (terrible) thing. But to ask someone who was allegedly drugged and forced into oral sex by an older, larger, more powerful man whose reputation was impregnable and held heavy sway on her current and future job prospects why she didn’t do more to prevent an assault is beyond the pale.

Reaction on social media has been swift, with the hashtag #DonLemonReporting trending this morning.

Jokes aside, Lemon’s questions were crass and irresponsible, and will hopefully earn him a rebuke from the network — though we won’t be holding our breath.