Cosby's TV Wife: 'Forget These Women'

Phylicia Rashad defends Bill Cosby
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 7, 2015 10:51 AM CST
Cosby's TV Wife: 'Forget These Women'
Bill Cosby is flanked by Phylicia Rashad, his TV wife from "The Cosby Show," and "I Spy" co-star Robert Culp during Cosby's induction ceremony into NBC's Walk of Fame on May 3, 2002, in New York.   (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)

Showbiz 411 writer Roger Friedman happened to run into Phylicia Rashad, who played Bill Cosby's wife on The Cosby Show, recently, and he ended up with a doozy of a quote. Rashad had not previously said anything publicly about the sexual assault scandal in which Cosby is currently embroiled, and she told Friedman she doesn't want to "become part of the public debate." But she almost certainly has: "I love him," she said of Cosby, adding she's never seen any hint of the behavior of which he's been accused. "Forget these women," she continued. "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. All his contracts have been canceled," she said, and Friedman notes she was "alluding to people other than the women." Discussing The Cosby Show, she added, "This show represented America to the outside world. This was the American family. And now you're seeing it being destroyed. Why?" And, asked specifically about allegations from Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson, Rashad said, "Oh, please." (Two more women recently joined a defamation suit against Cosby.)

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