Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
If you’re someone who struggles to enjoy The Cosby Show or won’t even attempt to watch it after Bill Cosby’s steep fall from grace thanks to his convictions for sexual assault, Phylicia Rashad has some thoughts on that.
The 72-year-old legend played Clair Huxtable on the iconic sitcom, and during a new interview with Bustle, she was asked about those who are no longer comfortable viewing the show as they once were.
“I don’t know why anybody would feel that way,” she said. “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 brought up false allegations that were made against the late author Zora Neale Hurston, with her neighbor accusing the writer of having relations with their 10-year-old son. The case would eventually be thrown out as she was proven to be out of the country when she was alleged to have committed the crime. However, news of her indictment before her vindication spread, including to a Black newspaper, reportedly pushing Hurston to consider suicide. Rashad believed these claims caused irreparable damage to Hurston’s career, claiming, “her books were taken off the shelf.”
“And so I know what I know, and I just stay with what I know,” she added, while remarking on both the allegations against Hurston, and those that led to convictions of Cosby. “And it will happen in time, that this will come around another way, as it often does. And then people say, ‘Oh.'”
Rashad previously created some controversy in 2015 when she publicly stated that she believed the great number of claims about Cosby were attempts to ruin him. This happened after she said she was misquoted as commenting, “Forget these women.”
“That is a misquote, and that is not what I said. What I said is this is not about the women. This is about something else,” she told ABC News. “This is about the obliteration of legacy… I am a woman. I would never say such a thing.”
Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison in September 2018 and has been incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution – Phoenix in Pennsylvania since. As for The Cosby Show, syndication of the series has been pulled by most networks that were previously running the series, with the exception of TV One. It also currently is available on Amazon Prime.
Check out photos of Rashad playing queen Clair Huxtable by hitting the flip:
Source: NBC / Getty
THE COSBY SHOW — Season 1 — Pictured: Phylicia Rashad as Clair Hanks Huxtable — Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank
