A MODEL VICTIM

LETTERS

Beverly Johnson joins the chorus of Cosby accusers; Tony Blair saves for retirement; and more from our January issue

Beverly Johnson has nothing to gain from her disclosure ["Bill Cosby Drugged Me. This Is My Story," VF.com, December], Her claim has been corroborated many times over by other women who have nothing to gain. If you still don't believe her, it's time to ask yourself why. What does it do to you to admit that Bill Cosby isn't who you thought he was?

FRANCES CHEE

Hacienda Heights, California

I finally believe after this.

JONIE WILLIAMS

New York, New York

Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson are opportunists. They were content to protect their careers by staying silent and refusing to offer public support to Cosby's other accusers when celebrity sisterhood could have made the difference and stopped Cosby in his tracks 20 years ago.

SANDRA GREENEPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Thank you, Ms. Johnson, for adding your voice to the mountain of evidence—and, yes, women telling what happened to them is evidence—against Bill Cosby. Your revelation serves as a cautionary tale for young women who can still be abused and victimized and then have their injury compounded by the reactions of those who think "crying rape" and revealing the pain and shame of a past assault are something people do for fun.

JULIE A. MiLLER

Hansville, Washington

I've treated sexual-assault victims for decades, and it drives me crazy that people inevitably resort to calling alleged victims liars if they don't believe them, or cowards if they do but feel they should have come forward sooner. Gee, I wonder why some victims are hesitant to speak up at all?

CHRISTIAN ANDERSON

Elko, Nevada

Having survived on this earth for 80 years, I have learned not to be surprised by unspeakable acts committed by so-called decent human beings. Just read the daily newspaper or watch any TY news program.

HERMAN GARDNER

Hernando, Florida

This is not the first time Beverly .Tohnson has accused a male acquaintance of abusing her. Some years ago, she claimed her former boyfriend Chris Noth had beaten her up. Then she made a similar claim about golf pro Mark Burk. Coincidence?

HELEN BROWER

Delray Beach, Florida

Just because he was Ghost Dad doesn't mean that he isn't capable of rape.

GABIE DEMARY

Orlando, Florida

It disturbs me that context is ignored. I want to ask all of Cosby's accusers if they ever used drugs or slept with anyone else during that time, or felt as if they had to yield to that environment in order to "make it" in show business. To me, the free, party-friendly culture of the times created an atmosphere that devalued all parties. I have a tough time seeing these women as helpless victims.

WILLIAM JOHNSONSt. Loins, Missouri

Chances are that everyone reading this knows someone who has been sexually assaulted. If these women were your wives, sisters, mothers, or daughters, would you be so brazen as to label them whores or gold diggers, as some have done to Beverly Johnson?

LAURA MET ANTE COLLINS

Taos, New Mexico

It's unfortunate to watch a 77-year-old man answer to crimes his younger self allegedly committed. I wish this had come out two or three decades ago. No one wants to try an old man whose pencil is out of lead.

RAYNELL NURSE

Toronto, Ontario

I investigated sexual-assault cases on behalf of the Medical Board of California for many years, and I believe every word of Ms. Johnson's story—a classic one of a perpetrator with power over his victim. At one point in my career, we received a complaint or two against a particular doctor. After news of this appeared in the Orange County Register, we were indundated with close to 200 additional complaints from women going back two decades before. As such, it doesn't surprise me one bit that all of these women are coming forward against Bill Cosby now.

And for the record, I grew up loving and idolizing Cosby. When I first heard the allegations against him, years ago, I didn't want to believe them. Now I have no choice.

KATHLEEN LYNN SCHMIDT

Meridian, Idaho

We all loved the Bill Cosby we grew up with. But I'm not willing to hold on to a myth at the expense of these women. They deserve to be heard.

RUTH HASTYVenice, California

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

In Todd S. Purdum's article about James Patterson ["The Henry Ford of Books," January], he refers to the Clio as "advertising's highest award." As a Clio winner myself, I can assure you that this isn't the case. The Clios are just one of a number of advertising awards shows—the One Show, the ANDY Awards, and the Directors Show among them—and are neither more nor less prestigious than the others.

MICHAEL MANGANOGreenwich, Connecticut

POLITICAL CURRENCY

Tony Blair is not alone in his questionable connections and remarkable post-elected-office financial dealings ["The Which Blair Project," by Sarah Ellison, January], Closer to home, American politics will never be the same now that the presidency is potentially a billion-dollar business opportunity.

With the principals in Clinton Inc. raising hundreds of millions of dollars, both as individuals and on behalf of their foundation, can it be that all of their supporters really believe they get nothing for their checks?

DOUG KARP

Stamford, Connecticut

BEFORE BALANCHINE

The Nutcracker ballet had its American premiere in San Francisco on Christmas Eve in 1944, a full 10 years before the first Balanchine staging, at New York's City Center, and well before the New York City Ballet premiere, in 1964 ["Balanchine's Christmas Miracle," by Laura Jacobs, January], As it states on the San Francisco Ballet's Web site, the 1944 Nutcracker was what "launched a national holiday tradition." Why not give credit where credit is due?

KEN MALUCELLI

Daly City, California

CORRECTION: On page 93 of the January issue, we misnamed the photographer credited with images 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8. He is Paul Kolnik.

Letters to the editor should be sent electronically with the writer's name, address, and daytime phone number to letters@vf.com. All requests for back issues should be sent to subscriptions@vf.com.

All other queries should be sent to vfmail@vf.com. The magazine reserves the right to edit submissions, which may be published or otherwise used in any medium. All submissions become the property' of Vanity Fair. A number of the letters included here originally appeared as comments submitted to VF.com.

More from THE V.F. MAILBAG

"In 'The Henry Ford of Books/ Todd S. Purdum writes that [James] Patterson sketches virtually all of the detailed action of a book in an 80-page outline that he hands off to a co-author," writes David C. Cutler, from Rogers, Arkansas. "Successful artists such as Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst don't create all of their artwork with their own hands. They have a team of assistants, and the art world seems O.K. with that arrangement."

This seems like maybe a good time to explain how the V.F. Mailbag is produced. Every month, with a weary wave of the hand, the Mailbag's author announces the concept (it's always the same: "Reader mail ... the runoff"), whereupon a team of assistants—not Koons's or Hirst's, incidentally—swing into action and create the result before you. And the Mailbag world seems O.K. with that arrangement.

Michael Kinsley's purpose in "The Irony and the Ecstasy," says Josh Harrison, of Draper, Utah, is "to expose modern-day Republican politicians for respecting and praising [Ronald] Reagan with such deference. Kinsley thinks these Republicans are living in a kind of Reagan fantasy. What is so ironic about the piece is that present-day supporters of President Obama are doing the very same thing but in real time." On the other hand: Bonnie Bennett, Miami Shores, Florida. She writes, "The canonization of Ronald Reagan has not only mystified me but aggravated me greatly. It's such a farce and testament to the short-term memory of the American people and the ability of media to 'wag the dog.' This was a man of severe mediocrity and sub-par performance."

Finally, some readers had problems with (as one notes) the "foul and abusive ... vile, repulsive, repugnant, and threatening" language in our cover story on Bradley Cooper. Another writes that while "to say I LOVE Vanity Fair is an understatement .. . suddenly there it was. F in many places." And a third wonders "if you had ever considered refining your esteemed magazine a bit to accommodate those readers who don't get a rush out of reading the word"—suddenly there it was, f in yet one more place—"over and over again."