W. Kamau Bell says ‘We Need to Talk About Cosby’… even though it’s hard

W. Kamau Bell is not afraid to have a tough conversation about the man once hailed as “America’s Dad.” Bell’s new docuseries, We Need to Talk About Cosby, premieres Sunday and will provide an unflinching look at Bill Cosby’s groundbreaking legacy as well as his downfall for allegedly raping dozens of women.

Speaking to ABC Audio, Bell addresses how Cosby’s camp has panned the upcoming series and called him a “PR Hack.” The 49-year-old admits the insult caught him off guard. “Of all the things I envisioned them calling me, that was not on my list. So, you know, I’ll take it,” says Bell.

While Cosby’s camp made it clear to Bell they want the upcoming docuseries to focus only on the positive, the United Shades of America host said, “I think if they watch the doc, they’ll see that we also highlight the good things he does while we have a different opinion of his innocence.”

The docuseries balances Cosby’s fall from grace with his legacy as a performer and educator. It is a “difficult” discussion, Bell admits, but says “it’s time” to have it because it’s so “hard to talk about.” He says the docuseries “reckons with his legacy and all the good he did with all the things that I’ve come to believe that he did as far as assaulting and raping women.”

“It was always a conversation about Bill Cosby, not a conversation with Bill Cosby,” Bell continued. “And after you talk to so many survivors, it just feels like it’s less and less a room for him to come in because that would feel like a betrayal to all the survivors.”

We Need to Talk About Cosby premieres Sunday, January 30, at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.