Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth made a brutal joke about Bill Cosby on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron. More than 60 women have accused Cosby of attempted assault, rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct, which he had denied, and the statute of limitations had by then expired in nearly all cases. Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to three to ten years in prison in September 2018. Alternative Nation transcribed Roth’s comments. Roth also discussed Jimi Hendrix in the interview.
Marc Maron: So you go up to New York and see Uncle Manny? And you go hang out at the Wa?
David Lee Roth: Oh yeah. And I would sit in the back and it was no different than what happens at the comedy store.
Marc Maron: How old wee you?
David Lee Roth: Oh, starting at nine.
Marc Maron: No kidding.
David Lee Roth: Yeah. And My Aunt Judy, she wafted. She never walked. She was gorgeous. (I’m doing the gorgeous face).
And I always wondered why Woody Allen and Bill Cosby- no shit- since having talked to Manny and his 90’s wife, Bill and Woody were always fixtures because they were comics and I would say, “Who are those guys? And why are they always here?”
And Manny would always whisper to me, ‘Because of your Aunt Judy and all her girlfriends.”
Later, Roth discussed his early musical influences. Roth also discussed his last bad phone call with Eddie Van Halen.
David Lee Roth: I was playing saxophone and reeds, clarinet. And I had to learn to read, write, transpose, play solos, ect. My closest to pop heroes were the two fellas , the boys over at Disney who wrote all the Jungle Book and Mary Poppins.
Marc Maron: How’d you know them?
David Lee Roth: Through the movies and more importantly, all of the musicians who played in those orchestras and bands were all European immigrants. And they all shopped at one specific music store which was out in Boyle Heights, Felip’s. And that’s where you bought your reeds and your music and your pens.
Marc Maron: And you’re a kid at this point?
David Lee Roth: I had Leonard Bernstein on the wall and then I had, the chess kid Bobby Fischer and Bobby Dote; two Bob’s and a Lenny. Later on, Jimi Hendrix got up there.
