ONE of The Cosby Show stars has broken ranks with former cast mates, saying “of course Bill Cosby is guilty” of rape, as Barack Obama weighed into the scandal.
Joseph C. Phillips, who played Martin Kendall, the husband of Cosby’s on-screen daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet), has written a blog post entitled “of course Bill Cosby is guilty”.
Close family ... The cast of The Cosby Show, with Joseph C Phillips sitting in front. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
Phillips says claims that Cosby had drugged and raped as many as 40 women had left him feeling conflicted because of his adulation for the man who shaped his life.
“While growing up, I watched everything Bill Cosby did. My father had several of his comedy albums; I memorised them backwards and forwards,” he said.
“Bill Cosby was more than a comedian. Bill was my idea of a great man — a great Black man! He was good looking, talented, smart, and he was fearless. The Cos was a ladies man, but also good father and husband — devoted to his wife and children. Bill was educated; he collected art and was fluent in jazz. After my father, Bill Cosby was the man I aspired to be. Few get an opportunity to meet their idol, much less work with them. I was blessed in that regard, and even more blessed that I found my idol as clever, kind, and brilliant as I had imagined.”
Speaking out ... Joseph C Phillips in a selfie he took just before appearing on CNN this week to talk about his blog posting. Picture: Twitter Source: Supplied
Phillips said it was common knowledge that Cosby was cheating on his wife, Camille.
“Bill sleeping around was a fact that, like, the air, seemed to just be,” he wrote.
“There was also the seeming unending parade of pretty young women that streamed through the studio. In fact, that is what some of us called it — the parade. Light skinned. ‘Good’ hair. One prettier than the next.
“So, in 1989, my attitude was that if Bill was cheating on Camille, I am fairly certain Camille knew. Hey, if everyone who claimed to know actually knew, then certainly Camille knew, and had long ago made her peace with it.”
‘She knew about affairs’ ... Joseph C Phillips says there is no way Camille Cosby didn’t know that her husband was sleeping around. Picture: Supplied Source: AP
Phillips says he started to believe the rumours that Cosby had drugged women for sex when he bumped into an old friend to whom Cosby had been a mentor.
He says he decided to ask her if Cosby had done that to her and before he finished his sentenced she started crying and told him the whole story.
“We spent the next two hours sitting on a bench talking. Through tears, she told me her story. She cursed him for violating both her trust and her body. She cursed herself for not being smarter, and for degrading herself in pursuit of success,” he wrote.
‘Great father’ ... Joseph C Phillips says Bill Cosby, pictured with wife Camille and daughter, Evin, is a great dad. Picture: Getty Source: Supplied
Top honours ... comedian Bill Cosby admires baseball legend Hank Aaron's Presidential Medal of Freedom before receiving his own medal at the White House in 2002. Picture: AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert Source: AP
“The good Bill has done over the years is real and enduring. I am not prepared to simply dismiss his brilliance, his wisdom, or his legacy. You see, all of that is a part of who I am as a man — as a Black man,” he wrote. “Over the weekend, Bill turned 78 years old. It is with all of the love I still have for him and the reverence of one who has idolised him for a lifetime that I offer this plea.
“Bill, you have a family who loves you, a wife who is devoted to you; you have more money than you can spend. Please, go live a quiet country life. Allow those of us who truly love you to preserve just a bit of our enchantment.”
Early cast shot ... The stars of The Cosby Show have said little against Bill Cosby. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied
President Barack Obama weighs into scandal
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has weighed into the Cosby scandal.
At Wednesday’s press conference on the Iranian nuclear deal, Obama took a question about the rape allegations targeting Cosby.
When a journalist asked him whether he would revoke the disgraced actor’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded in 2002, Obama said: “With respect to the Medal of Freedom, there’s no precedent for revoking a medal. We don’t have that mechanism.
“As you know, I make it a policy not to comment on the specifics of cases where there still might be, if not criminal, then civil issues involved. I’ll say this: if you give a woman, or a man, for that matter, without his or her knowledge, a drug, and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape. And I think this country, or any civilised country, should have no tolerance for rape.”
The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the US, recognising people who made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavours.”
Cosby Show stars have their say
BILL COSBY
“No, no, we don’t answer that. There is no comment about that ... I don’t talk about it.”
PHYLICIA RASHAD
“This is not about the women. This is about something else. This is about the obliteration of legacy.”
KEISHA KNIGHT PULLIAM
“I wasn’t there, that’s just not the man I know and I can’t speak to it”.
RAVEN-SYMONE
Speaking on The View, “I don’t really like to talk about it that much because he’s the reason I’m on this panel in the first place. He gave me my first job.”
MALCOLM JAMAL WARNER
“He’s one of my mentors, and he’s been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor,” Warner said. “Just as it’s painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it’s just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this. “I can’t really speak on any of the allegations because obviously, I was not there. The Bill Cosby I know has been great to me and great for a lot of people. What he’s done for comedy and television has been legendary and history-making. What he’s done for the black community and education has been invaluable. That’s the Bill Cosby I know. I can’t speak on the other stuff.”
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