In 2017, I spoke with Gloria Allred, the most famous civil rights attorney in the country, at a moment when the world was beginning to grapple with the “Me Too” era. At the time, she was deeply entrenched in the Bill Cosby proceedings and representing numerous women in high-profile cases. Today, looking back at that conversation through a 2025 lens, Allred’s commitment to the long game of justice feels less like advocacy and more like a historical bridge.
As we evaluate where we stand now—years after the Cosby conviction was vacated and later followed by a civil judgment—Allred’s insights into the women who blazed the trail for her own work remain the foundation of her philosophy.
The Lineage of Resistance: Allred’s Personal Heroes
During our discussion, I asked Allred about the figures who fueled her fire. Her response was a masterclass in the history of American civil rights, connecting her modern legal battles to the suffragettes and abolitionists of the past.
“I have many heroes,” Allred told me. “Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth… women who were willing to take risks, even if it meant being arrested or being unpopular.”
In 2025, this lineage is crucial. Allred sees herself not just as a lawyer, but as a continuation of that “unpopular” risk-taking. While the platforms have changed from the streets to social media and digital courtrooms, the core principle remains: progress requires a willingness to stand alone against the status quo.
On the Nature of Truth and the Legal System
Allred has often been criticized for her use of the media, but she has always maintained that the “court of public opinion” is sometimes the only place where marginalized voices can find a footing. In our interview, she touched on the weight of representing victims in cases involving powerful cultural icons.
“It’s about giving a voice to the voiceless. Many of these women have waited decades for their day in court.”
Reflecting on this today, we see how the legal landscape has shifted. Statutes of limitations have been challenged and changed in many states—laws that Allred herself lobbied for. The “decades” she mentioned in 2017 have, in many instances, finally led to legal windows of opportunity in the 2020s, proving that her strategy was always about the “marathon,” not the “sprint.”
The Accountability Standard
Even then, Allred was clear that her work wasn’t about the celebrity of the defendant, but about the standard of accountability. Whether it was Bill Cosby or any other figure, her focus remained on the systemic protection of rights.
“Justice is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s often a very difficult road for those who choose to speak out.”
As we look at the current legal climate, where high-profile cases are often met with intense online scrutiny and “cancel culture” debates, Allred’s buttoned-up approach to the “process” is a reminder that the law, however slow, is the ultimate arbiter. Her career has been a testament to the idea that being “unpopular” is a small price to pay for a fundamental shift in how society views victims’ rights.
The Final Verdict on Allred’s Impact
Gloria Allred’s legacy in 2025 is defined by the very heroes she named to me back in 2017. Like Sojourner Truth or Susan B. Anthony, she has spent her career being a “disrupter” of the peace in exchange for the pursuit of a higher justice.
As she told me on Scoop B Radio:
“You have to be prepared to fight. If you aren’t prepared to fight, you aren’t going to win.”
