Protesters to Greet Cosby at the Lyric Friday

The allegations swirling around Bill Cosby—namely, three-dozen women have come forward with detailed accounts of exploitation, drugging, and sexual assault over the years—are hard to comprehend.

Almost equally incomprehensible, Cosby is still scheduled to appear at the Lyric Friday night.

In protest of the 77-year-old's appearance, the sexual assault victim advocacy group Slutwalk Baltimore is organizing a 6:30 p.m. demonstration at the theater.

"Our goal is to make the people who attend the show, and are giving him their money, aware of exactly how many women—the number is 38—that have accused him and what he is being accused of," says Rachel Perry-Cook, director of the advocacy organization. "We want to tell the Lyric that we don't support having a serial rapist in our city."

Perry-Cook adds that she'd contacted the Lyric, asking if those who had previously bought tickets for Cosby's appearance could exchange them for another show. She says she was told by the Lyric that they could not. "That obviously was a little disappointing," Perry-Cook says.

Many of Cosby's shows in recent months have been cancelled. (We reached out to the Lyric, for comment, but did not hear back before press time.)

It's hard to put Cosby's appearance in any context that makes sense. There has never been a celebrity accused of something so heinous who is still performing. He has not yet been charged with a crime and he denies any wrongdoing. Civil lawsuits have been brought and at least one has been settled previously, but he continues to fight the rest of the allegations with his legal team. Of course, many of these accusations date back decades, which make prosecution difficult.

In a recent video promoting his appearances in Baltimore and Charleston, Cosby promised to make people "laugh and smile."

Somehow we don't think there will be much laughter outside the Lyric on Friday night.