LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC canceled an upcoming project with veteran comedian Bill Cosby, the network said on Wednesday, after accusations that he sexually assaulted women resurfaced in recent weeks.
"We can confirm that the Cosby project is no longer in development," the Comcast Corp-owned network said in a statement, while declining to comment further.
The project was still in its early stages, with no script delivered and no production date secured.
Cosby's representative did not immediately respond for comment.
The move by NBC comes the day after online streaming giant Netflix Inc said it was postponing the launch of Cosby's stand-up comedy special "Bill Cosby 77," which was due to be released on Nov. 28.
Allegations that Cosby, 77, drugged and sexually assaulted several young women decades ago gained renewed attention after comedian Hannibal Buress called him a rapist during a stand-up comedy routine last month.
Last week, Cosby got an unwelcome response to his Twitter feed request for followers to create memes about him, and was barraged with memes about the rape accusations.
Cosby has never been charged with the alleged crimes.
One of his accusers, former aspiring actress Barbara Bowman, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this month that Cosby had sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions in 1985 when she was 17. She said she never went to the police because she feared she would not be believed.
Cosby is best known for playing Cliff Huxtable, the father of an affluent black family on the TV sitcom "The Cosby Show" that was a top-ranked program from 1984 to 1992.
(Editing by Mary Milliken, Diane Craft and Bernard Orr)