Phylicia Rashad has supported Bill Cosby throughout his legal journey and on Wednesday, after the news broke that the comedian’s sexual assault charge had been overturned — she took to social media to express her delight.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” she wrote. Rashad turned the comments off the post, which featured an image of Cosby’s face.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed Cosby’s sex assault conviction. 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.
It does not necessarily mean that Cosby has been found innocent. It was more of a technical issue.
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.
In 2015, Rashad defended Cosby.
“Forget these women,” she said. “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture,” she said per The Hollywood Reporter.
In October 2020, she defended her work with the comedian. “I don’t know why anybody would feel that way. I just don’t accept what somebody says because they say it, and they say it in a loud voice. The internet has given a lot of anonymous people a very loud voice. And this, too, has happened before,” Rashad said to Bustle of people who had decided to boycott “The Cosby Show.”
