I once pitched a reality show about this very problem: What happens when your entire livelihood is wrapped up in a celebrity and that celebrity suddenly falls from grace? Whither the PeeWee Herman lookalikes in 1991? Or the Michael Jacksons, after the molesting allegations? And now THINK ABOUT THE POOR BILL COSBY IMPERSONATORS? What will they do NOW?

New Yorker John Washington says that people always mistake him for Bill Cosby and he used to not mind looking nearly identical to America’s favorite sitcom dad.

“It has been a fun run,” Washington, 77, told The Weekly Mirror. “Cosby was a good man. Everybody loved the Cos. But in the last month, with all the rape allegations against Bill Cosby, my, my, it, well, my life sucks s**t now. It’s unlivable.”

Looking like Cosby used to be a good ice breaker to meet women, Washington says. “That was my favorite part. The pretty chickies just come up to you and kiss you and rub you and I got a lot of… you know, ass. I met my ex-wife because she thought I was Bill Cosby.”

Washington says people now approach him shouting that he’s a rapist and a bad person. He’s been attacked on three occasions, once by a young Puerto Rican woman who pepper sprayed him and then beat him unconscious with her purse, and has even received direct death threats.

Washington says he is now staying inside his apartment until people know he’s not Bill Cosby.

(via Stupid; t/y Billy)