Commentary: Why Phylicia Rashad’s defense of Bill Cosby is so infuriating
Just an hour after news broke that Bill Cosby, the once beloved TV star whose sexual assault conviction marked a major victory for the #MeToo movement, would be released from prison on a controversial technicality. Outraged, his longtime TV wife Phylicia Rashad checked in on Twitter.
“FINALLY!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a justice has been done!” she wrote in a message accompanying a photo of the comedian looking vulnerable, as if to evoke our sympathy.
It’s an example of a sacred celebrity tradition, the serious tweet where no one asks why you’re talking right now, a tweet that adds fuel to an already tense situation. Never mind that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in no way exonerates Cosby of the charges against him as Rashad seems to have been moot. The actress — or whoever handles her social media accounts — certainly knew her comments would be controversial: Responses to the tweet were limited to the two accounts she follows, one of which belonged to her sister, Debbie Allen. And within hours, Rashad tried to retract her statement, although as of this writing, she had not deleted the original tweet. Outrage over Cosby’s stunning reversal of conviction quickly turned to anger at Rashad, who — at least until Wednesday — remained a beloved, untarnished performer. tainted by her long relationship with and former protection of Cosby. (In a 2015 interview, she suggested that Cosby was the victim of a conspiracy). Just last month, Rashad was appointed dean of the Chadwick Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University.
It remains to be seen whether the controversy will end as easily as it did when Cosby left a Pennsylvania prison on Wednesday afternoon in a white sedan. If Howard University and the two current dramas on which she has recurring roles — NBC’s hit family drama “This Is Us” and OWN’s coming-of-age series “David Makes Man” — If you decide to say “Goodbye, Phylicia,” very few people will. be surprised. For many people who grew up watching “The Cosby Show” and have tried to separate the positive aspects of the sitcom’s legacy from its star and creator’s mean-spirited behavior, the provocation of Rashad is especially annoying — in part because her character may be the show’s greatest strength. In theory, we all know that actors are not the characters they play, but to children of the ’80s, Rashad was Clair Huxtable, the steadfast yet loving, co-operative wife and mother. was a serious lawyer who never lost an argument at home. Played with regal charm by Rashad, Clair is both the ultimate sitcom mom and a shining example of a woman balancing work and family life while defying gender roles. traditional. (Cliff does most of the cooking in their family.)
