'Cosby Show' Star Phylicia Rashad Criticized as 'Enabler' to Bill Cosby, But Social Media Fires Back

This Mother's Day, social media became embroiled in a surprising debate about whether actress [...]

By Michael Hein

This Mother's Day, social media became embroiled in a surprising debate about whether actress Phylicia Rashad was in some way responsible for the sexual assaults of her Cosby Show co-star Bill Cosby. It started with some fans posting tributes to Rashad and her maternal character Clair Huxtable in honor of the holiday. When some critics called Rashad and Clair "enablers" for Cosby, the discussion got heated.

"Clair Huxtable was an enabler of the longest and most prolific drug rape predator in U.S. History, Bill Cosby," one user proclaimed. "Everyone on set knew he was a sadistic predator. Everyone. Seventy-five women drugged and raped by Cosby and he got away with it because of enablers." That post has since been deleted, but the debates and speculations it raised rage on.

To be clear, there's no proof or even strong evidence that Rashad knew about Cosby's crimes or aided him with them in any way, and Clair Huxtable is a fictional character. However, Rashad did defend Cosby as recently as 2015, telling Showbiz 411: "What you're seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it's orchestrated. I don't know why or who's doing it, but it's the legacy. And it's a legacy that is so important to the culture. Someone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV, and it's worked."

As for Cosby himself, he has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women in dozens of cases, with suspiciously similar stories spread out across years and various settlements made out of court. However, he has only been convicted of three counts of aggravated assault of a single woman. He was sentenced to three to ten years in a Pennsylvania state prison, which he began serving in September of 2018. Many of the other allegations against him fall outside of the statute of limitations.

The conversation became muddled as some users moved to defend Rashad, who has her own incredible legacy that is important to fans. Scroll down for a look at how the speculation and the war or perspectives played out.

Colleague

Many people commented on the power dynamic between Cosby and Rashad, feeling that it was clear she was not in a position to know about his alleged crimes. They saw the relationship between the two of them as strictly professional.

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Responsibility

Some also saw the outrage at Rashad as a way of deflecting blame from Cosby himself. They thought there was something nefarious about expecting a Black woman like Rashad to automatically be responsible for Cosby's actions via sheer proximity.

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Other Work

Meanwhile, fans pointed out Rashad's other accomplishments beyond The Cosby Show, and her proactive work to help the next generation of Black women succeed in the entertainment industry. Rashad has won multiple NAACP Image Awards and has the nickname "Mother of the Black Community" for reasons that extend well beyond The Cosby Show.

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Not Today

Many were horrified by the timing of the tweet calling out Rashad, which came on Mother's Day just as many fans were paying tribute to her as a maternal force on TV. They thought the backlash to this was inevitable.

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'Clair'

Some also thought it was either disrespectful or ignorant to refer to Rashad as "Clair Huxtable," the name of her character and not her real name.

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'Uncancelable'

Fans thought that Rashad was virtually impossible to "cancel," and the idea that someone was coming for her was almost laughable.

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Intense

Finally, when the dust settled many people commented on how intense the exchange had been, laughing at Twitter in general and at themselves, in some cases.

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