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Phylicia Rashad Raises Eyebrows With Response to Bill Cosby’s Prison Release

Phylicia Rashad previously showed support to her former costar Bill Cosby after he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 women — all the details

Phylicia Rashad took to social media to react to the news of Bill Cosby’s surprising prison release.

“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” Rashad, 73, tweeted on Wednesday, June 30, after the news made headlines.

Social media users were quick to question her post. One person wrote, “I hope the Cosby Show residual checks are worth what is left of your dignity.​”

'The Cosby Show' Star Phylicia Rashad Raises Eyebrows With Response to Bill Cosby’s Prison Release
Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad in ‘The Cosby Show.’ Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Other people even called out Rashad’s new position as a dean at Howard University and asked for her to be removed.

“Phylicia’s response here is not surprising but it is disappointing, given her role as an academic dean charged with the welfare of her students, some of whom will be survivors,” another user tweeted.

Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday that the Pennsylvania high court found an agreement with a previous prosecutor that prevented Cosby, 83, from being charged, which means the actor was subsequently released from the state prison.

Cosby, who was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 women, was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison in September 2018 after being convicted earlier that year of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.

The actor was denied bail at the time and he did not make a statement during the hearing, although he maintained his innocence throughout the legal proceedings.

Constand’s case was the only one that ended in criminal charges after Cosby’s first trial ended in a hung jury in June 2017.

'The Cosby Show' Star Phylicia Rashad Raises Eyebrows With Response to Bill Cosby’s Prison Release
Phylicia Rashad and Bill Cosby. Elijah Nouvelage/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; Amanda Schwab/Starpix/Shutterstock

“When the sexual assault happened, I was a young woman brimming with confidence and looking forward to a future bright with possibilities,” Constand, 48, wrote in a five-page victim impact statement the week of Cosby’s sentencing in 2018. “Now, almost 15 years later, I’m a middle-aged woman who’s been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward.”

Following the recent announcement of Cosby’s release, Constand’s attorney, Dolores M. Troiani, said in a statement to Us that her legal team and client are “still reviewing the decision” and declined to comment further.

Rashad, for her part, has spoken out about her support for her former The Cosby Show costar in the past.

“My initial reaction to the allegations was, ‘Hmm. Someone has a vested interest in preventing Mr. Cosby’s return to network television,'” she said on ABC’s Nightline in January 2015 after accusations started to surface.

Rashad, who played Cosby’s onscreen wife in the sitcom, insisted that she “never saw anything inappropriate” while working with him on set.

“I haven’t spoken to him recently, but speaking to the character of the man I know this has not been easy at all,” she added at the time. “I don’t have all the answers, but I think in the hearts and minds of many people, he is held in high regard. And absolutely I do, yes I do.”

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This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Yana Grebenyuk

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