Bill Cosby Sex Abuse, Rape Allegations News: Thanks Eddie Murphy for Not Mocking Him at 'Saturday Night Live'

Bill Cosby has expressed thanks to fellow comedian Eddie Murphy for declining to impersonate him during a segment of the 40th anniversary special of "Saturday Night Live" last Feb. 15.

Murphy was asked to play Cosby during the Jeopardy parody segment of the show, but the comedian declined at the last minute. The act would have pointedly played on the fact that Cosby was accused by more than 20 women of serving them drugged cocktails before sexually abusing them.

Instead of Murphy, Kenan Thompson did the impersonation of Cosby.

Cosby has been hit from all angles since June of last year as new alleged sex abuse victims have surfaced, accusing him of assaulting each one of them decades before. A total of 24 women have come out in the open, stating that they were victims of Cosby, who has not been charged formally. This has prompted him to cancel several of his concert tour dates as previous ones were dogged by demonstrators.

Prior to the scandal, Cosby was widely regarded as a respected stand-up comedian, actor, author and activist. He is most known for his lovable role as Dr. Bill Huxtable in "The Cosby Show." He has always been known for family-oriented comedy. After "The Cosby Show," which ran from 1984 to 1992, he starred in the sitcom "Cosby" from 1996 to 2000 and hosted "Kids Say the Darndest Things" from 1998 to 2000.

His first accuser, actress Lachele Covington, came out with her sex abuse charge in 2000. In January 2004, Andrea Constandt made a similar claim. This was settled out of court. In July 2005, Beth Ferrier came out with similar allegations. In 2014, the accusations started pouring in, with women recounting incidents from 1965 to 2004.

Amid the mounting sex abuse allegations covered extensively in the media, Cosby has maintained his innocence.