Rashad excoriated
Actress Phylicia Rashad, who played Bill Cosby’s onscreen wife in “The Cosby Show,” is embroiled in controversy after her support for his prison release.
One famous sitcom mom is taking another to task.
Janet Hubert isn’t happy about Phylicia Rashad’s support for Bill Cosby after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction.
Rashad, who played Cosby’s onscreen wife in “The Cosby Show,” reacted to the news by tweeting, “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
Hubert, the former “Fresh Prince of Bel-air” star, did not share the same sentiment.
“Phylicia what are you thinking!!! I don’t know you but to say this was terribly wrong. EVERYONE knew what he was doing back then,” Hubert, 65, tweeted on Thursday. “How could you NOT! Get your umbrella sista here comes the s— shower. I am outraged that he has been released. Yes he is an old a— guilty man!”
Hubert suggested that Rashad would’ve been better off writing: “He’s old he’s out and I’m happy for him, but he still … guilty.”
“I know 5 women who have not come forward,” the Juilliard School alum continued. “Enough ya’ll, we know better. Powerful men do wrong things, black or white.”
Rashad has since deleted her original celebratory tweet, while posting another expressing her support for survivors of sexual assault.
“I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward,” the historymaking Tony Award-winning actress wrote. “My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth.”
“Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects,” Rashad continued. “My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
Even after her mea culpa, Howard University distanced itself from its newly appointed celebrity dean.
Emphasizing that sexual assault survivors are its “first priority,” the historically Black college issued a statement denouncing Rashad’s comments.
“Survivors of sexual assault will always be our priority,” Howard university tweeted. “While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity toward survivors of sexual assault.”
“Personal positions of University leadership do not reflect Howard University’s policies,” the statement continues. “We will continue to advocate for survivors fully and support their right to be heard. Howard will stand with survivors and challenge systems that would deny them justice. We have full confidence that our faculty and school leadership will live up to this sacred commitment.”