
Bill Cosby hoagie denier Phylicia Rashad has come forward to wag yet another disapproving finger, this time in the faces of the 27-and-counting women who have accused her former TV husband of sexual assault. âForget these women,â Rashad told Showbiz 411âs Roger Friedman yesterdayâthough she more accurately called on the public to forget them again, as it had after every report, lawsuit, and insinuation against Cosby prior to 2014.
Echoing sentiments that have been expressed by other members of Cosbyâs family, both real and fictional, Rashad said she had never witnessed the side of the comedian that so many women claim to have seen, and openly dismissed out of hand the stories of Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson. âOh please,â Rashad reportedly said when their names were brought up, presumably giving Friedman one of those signature raised eyebrows that are so effective for shutting down both teenage boys who want to buy a motorcycle, or women making graphically detailed rape allegations over the course of two decades.
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In denying the veracity of those accusations, Rashad also aligned herself firmly on the side of Cosby truthersâthose who believe that the allegations represent a vast conspiracy to bring the towering Cosby down, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
âWhat youâre seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think itâs orchestrated. I donât know why or whoâs doing it, but itâs the legacy. And itâs a legacy that is so important to the culture,â Rashad said of the memory of a guy who had a popular TV show, which she believes is now being irreparably tarnished, 23 years after that it left the air, in a way The Cosby Mysteries did not already accomplish.
Rashad further believes this shadowy cadre will go to any length to unfairly deny this septuagenarian his 15th television show, saying, âSomeone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV. And itâs worked. All his contracts have been canceled.â But more importantly, she laments that these harrowing stories of rape must have caused irreparable damage to the familiesâspecifically, the fake Cosby Show family. âThis show represented America to the outside world. This was the American family,â Rashad said. âAnd now youâre seeing it being destroyed. Why?â
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Offering at least three more answers to Rashadâs question, Gloria Allred has scheduled another press conference for today in Los Angeles, where USA Today reports she plans to introduce three new women who say that Cosby assaulted them. Itâs unclear whether they will also reveal why they donât want people to watch The Cosby Show.
Meanwhile, Cosby himself continues to remain publicly silent on the matterâsomething Rashad says she understands, asking rhetorically, âIf he spoke now, what do you think the media would do with it?â (Speaking for The A.V. Club, Iâd report it as part of a daily, grudging obligation to follow this terrible story until it reaches its inevitably unsatisfactory conclusion.) But he has issued one statement today, telling ticket-holders to tonightâs show, the first of three scheduled for Ontario, âI plan to give fans the show of their life.â
Of course, before those fans can have their lives utterly rocked by gentle observations about marriage, theyâll have to cross through an estimated 130 or so protestors organized in part by the London Abused Womenâs Centre, who plan to stage a peaceful demonstration outside the venue. And according to the London Free Press, other unidentified groups have already made plans known to disrupt Cosbyâs performance from insideâsomething that arguably would make for the show of anyoneâs life, including Cosbyâs own.
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Still, Cosbyâas alwaysâhas a plan in place: âRemain calm and do not confront the person making the disruption,â he added in his statement, a policy heâs also adhered to offstage, preferring to let the people heâs provided with financial support take care of that for him.