Bill Cosby released a strange statement on Sunday, blasting Howard University for its response to Phylicia Rashad‘s celebratory tweet after Cosby’s release from prison on Wednesday. The statement, published by Deadline, was nearly incomprehensible, moving from topic to topic in the same sentence. He claimed that “media insurrectionists” were responsible for the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and said the media was also “trying to demolish the Constitution” on the Fourth of July.
“Howard University you must support ones Freedom of Speech (Ms. Rashad), which is taught or suppose to be taught everyday at that renowned law school, which resides on your campus,” reads the statement released by Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt. “This (sic) mainstream media are the Insurrectionists, who stormed the Capitol. Those same Media Insurrectionists are trying to demolish the Constitution of these United State of America on this Independence Day. No technicality — it’s a violation of ones rights & we the people stand in support of Ms. Phylicia Rashad.”
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Cosby was released from prison on Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction on a technicality. The court noted there was a 2005 agreement with a prosecutor that prevented Cosby from being facing charges. In 2018, Cosby was convicted of the 2004 rape of Andrea Constand. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison and was released the day his conviction was overturned.
The response from Rashad, who played Cosby’s on-screen wife in The Cosby Show, disappointed many of her fans. “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected,” she tweeted, adding a photo of Cosby. After this caused an immediate uproar, she deleted the tweet and published another one in an attempt to show support for the 60 women who have accused Cosby of rape and sexual assault. “I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward,” she wrote in her follow-up. “My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
Howard University, which recently named Rashad the dean of its College of Fine Arts, distanced itself from Rashad’s statements, noting that the “personal positions” of its leadership do not reflect the university’s policies. “We will continue to advocate for survivors fully and support their right to be heard. Howard will stand with survivors and challenge systems that would deny them justice,” the university said. “We have full confidence that our faculty and school leadership will live up to this sacred commitment.”
On Saturday, Rashad sent a letter to Howard University students and staff, apologizing again, reports CNN. “My remarks were in no way directed towards survivors of sexual assault. I vehemently oppose sexual violence, find no excuse for such behavior, and I know that Howard University has a zero-tolerance policy toward interpersonal violence,” she wrote. Rashad, 73, wrote that she plans to attend training sessions to “not only reinforce University protocol and conduct but also to learn how I can become a stronger ally to sexual assault survivors and everyone who has suffered at the hands of an abuser.”
