Kanye West's Bill Cosby Tweet Resurfaces, and Fans Are Not Happy
An old tweet that Kanye West posted about Bill Cosby has resurfaced and fans are not happy about [...]
An old tweet that Kanye West posted about Bill Cosby has resurfaced and fans are not happy about what he had to say.
The Kanye West tweet on Bill Cosby was awful then, even worse now. pic.twitter.com/JLwZxAO7Dx
— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeagueTSL) April 26, 2018
The most glaring tweet seems to be one from February 2016 wherein West stated that he believed Cosby was "innocent" of the sexual assault allegations against him.
"[Kanye West] continued to defend the disregard of Black women by declaring on Twitter in 2016 that Bill Cosby, a man accused of raping over 50 women, was 'innocent' without any other context," one person on Twitter said.
Kanye West thinks that Bill Cosby is innocent, FYI. That's embarrassing.
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) May 3, 2018
Another person mentioned West's defense of Cosby, and suggestively brought up the sexual assault/harassment allegations that have arisen against President Donald Trump in the past, saying that it's "no wonder" West supports the president, as "he has no respect for women like those 2 other clowns."
West recently came under fire for voicing support for Trump, calling him his "brother," and posting photos of himself wearing a Make America Great Again hat.
In addition to the new criticism the rapper is facing, many have referred back to pushback he received from some of his celebrity peers at the time his tweet was first posted.
Comedian Patton Oswalt chided, "There are easier ways to trend, Kanye," while Difficult People's Billy Eichner joked, "Are we sure Kanye isn't just a character from Zoolander?"
Kanye!! You can't be for real. FIFTY WOMEN. With nothing to gain thanks to a statute of limitations ON RAPE. Oy. https://t.co/3ekYD43uMs
— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) February 9, 2016
Cosby was on trial in 2017 for sexual assault, but the case ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to come to a unanimous, or even majority, decision.
The former Cosby Show star returned to court in April in a retrial, facing the same allegations that he drugged and raped a woman named Andrea Constand.
Constand was the Temple University women's basketball team manager, and Cosby was a significant donor to the school, as well as a member of the board of trustees.
She accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her at his home in 2004 and he was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from the incident.
Cosby was subsequently found guilty on all three sexual assault-related counts. A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled, but the aging comedian could be given up to a 10-year prison sentence for each of the counts he's been convicted of.