The Bill Cosby rape scandal has been a hot-button topic for nearly two years. With Cosby in court over the accusations from more than 40 women, the story isn’t going away any time soon. And while many are still arguing over whether or not Cosby is guilty, Cosby’s former protégé, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, recently spoke about the controversy and explained that he feels Cosby is being unfairly vilified in the press.
During a recent appearance on “The Real,” Warner was asked about the backlash against Cosby in the press and among fans, as well as the removal of “The Cosby Show” from the air.
“It’s literally taking money out of my pocket,” he said. “So I got my own personal feelings about that, because it personally affects me.”
Warner then explained that he feels Cosby isn’t being treated as kindly as other celebs who have been accused as rape, many of whom were White and weren’t as scrutinized or vilified by the press in the wake of the accusations.
“I can’t help but think about Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Stephen Collins, um, who it’s very clear … um, you know, the crimes they’ve committed, but there’s no one that, you know, has been calling for Woody’s movies to be pulled off the air. Roman Polanski is still celebrated,” Warner explained.
Despite his comments, Warner went on to say that he isn’t defending Cosby, who reportedly revealed in a 2005 deposition that he’d purchased Quaaludes with the intention of giving them to women before sex and that he’d done so in the past.
“I am in no position to defend him because I can’t,” he said. “But nor will I throw him under the bus.”
Unfortunately, Cosby isn’t the only one who is carrying the weight of this negative press. It’s fair to assume that his alleged victims are enduring an immense amount of pressure, stress and shame right now as well.
