- Sonalee Rashatwar said there was a ‘consensual way’ to ‘get their kinks out’
- Made the controversial comments on BBC2’s We Need To Talk About Bill Cosby
A BBC documentary has sparked outrage after a sex therapist suggested men who have a fetish for sex with unconscious partners should be able to pay women to be drugged.
The offensive remarks were made by American therapist Sonalee Rashatwar during a four-part documentary series about disgraced American star Bill Cosby.
Ms Rashatwar, who appeared on We Need To Talk About Bill Cosby, claimed there was a ‘consensual’ way for these men to get their ‘kinks out’.
One viewer branded the comments “beyond cruel”, while another said the remarks amounted to “rape excuses”.
US sitcom star Cosby, 85, has been the subject of several allegations of sexual abuse which became public in 2014. BBC2 aired the opening episode of the documentary series, which first aired in America, on Sunday.
The comments from the sex therapist are in the fourth episode, which is available on iPlayer.
Ms Rashatwar told the programme: ‘If we actually grappled with the fact that sex-negativity is what causes this type of behaviour, then we could create a world where someone in an idyllic sex-positive world is able to pay conscious women to come and get drugged so I can get my kink out, my fetish for having sex with unconscious people. There is a consensus way of doing it.’
But the remarks by Ms Rashatwar, who calls herself the “Fat Sex Therapist”, sparked huge outrage from viewers.
Thoughtful Therapists co-founder James Esses posted the clip on social media and said: ‘I feel sick. This is beyond cruel.’
Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies wrote on Twitter: ‘How does the BBC (or any credible broadcaster) give airtime to this.’
Director of Big Brother Watch UK, Silkie Carlo, added: “Sex negativity causes this behaviour”?!?. This is an excuse for rape quickly followed by advocacy for rape. How the hell did that end up on the BBC?!’
Bill Cosby rose to international fame playing the role of Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show, which launched in 1984. In 2018, he was convicted of the aggravated indecent assault of Andrea Constand. But this judgment was subsequently overturned in 2021.
Last year, the star was found responsible for sexual assault in 1975 in a civil case.
The four-part documentary series first aired in the US last year on Showtime.
On her website, Ms Rashatwar describes herself as a ‘clinical social worker’, ‘sex therapist’, ‘public speaker’, ‘community organizer’ and ‘doughnut lover’.