Joy Reid, the MSNBC talk show host, has reacted to the news that Bill Cosby is about to be a free man after having his sexual assault charges reversed.
“Welp… I sure didn’t have a court negating 50-something sexual assault allegations and freeing Bill Cosby on my Armageddon Bingo card…” the “Reid Out” host tweeted.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Cosby’s sex assault conviction.
He will go free at some point today.
The decision was made due to an agreement he had with a prior prosecutor that would have prevented Cosby from being criminally charged in the case.
The comedian was accused of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand at his estate in 2004. He was charged in 2015 for the alleged attack, arrested just days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. Cosby has served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence.
Just four weeks ago, Cosby’s official Instagram page released a statement maintaining his innocence:
“Attention: America. They are lying to you again. Here are the facts: Contrary to the reports that you have been reading in the media, Mr. Cosby was never charged nor convicted of rape,” the statement reads. “Mr. Cosby was convicted of aggravated indecent assault, for which he maintains his innocence. The media and its machine have repeatedly and blatantly misled and misrepresented the facts, continuing in their attempt to manipulate public opinion against Mr. Cosby.”
According to CNN, Stacey Witalec, spokesman for Pennsylvania’s highest court, the majority opinion stated, “Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated and he is discharged.”
In May, Cosby was denied paroled after refusing to participate in sex offender programs behind bars, citing his innocence as the reason. Cosby asserted that he did not have to attend such a program as he was not guilty and was not a sex offender.
