She played Bill Cosby’s wife twice, including from 1984 to 1992 as Clair Huxtable in The Cosby Show, one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1980s, but actually Phylicia Rashad never left Cosby’s side. Not even when the actor was accused by dozens of women that they would have been drugged and raped by him. In 2018, Cosby was found guilty and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. After being released last week for a formal error, and while his victims were still in shock at the turn of events, Rashad tweeted that “a great injustice was finally righted.”
The tweet was quickly deleted; in a new message, Rashad said she would “fully support victims of sexual abuse.” Howard University (in Washington DC), where Rashad had just been appointed as dean (head of department) of the College of Fine Arts, felt compelled to respond to their new employee’s tweet.
The university released a statement reprimanding Rashad: “Victims of sexual assault will always be our number one priority.” The original tweet is said to show an “insensitivity” to the position of these victims. “Personal views of executives do not reflect the views of Howard University,” the university said.
Calls for Rashad’s departure grew louder on social media. This weekend she sent a letter to the students and their parents, in which she promised to investigate the position of victims of sexual crimes, including through ‘active listening’ and participating in training courses.
Bill Cosby, meanwhile, has stood up for Rashad, announcing that her constitutional freedom of speech is in question at Howard University.
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