Throughout the balance of Bill Cosby’s sexual assault scandal and trial, famously shy and reserved actress Lisa Bonet had successfully stiff-armed the media’s prying questions into the dozens of allegations against Cosby, who played her father on TV in “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World.”
Not anymore.
In fact, Bonet appears out of nowhere to drop off a few bombs in Cosby’s lap on the eve of his second sexual assault trial in Philadelphia. In an interview with Net-a-Porter, Bonet said she had no prior knowledge of Cosby’s alleged behavior. But she said the legendary comedian emitted some seriously ominous and “dark” vibes when she played Denise Huxtable on the groundbreaking show in the 1980s.
“There was just energy,” the actress said. “And that type of sinister, shadow energy cannot be concealed.”
After she uttered those explosive words, the publication prodded her further by asking the Angel Heart actress when specifically she “sensed darkness” from Cosby.
“Always,” she simply said.
It was never a secret that Cosby, 80, and Bonet, 50, did not have a cordial or amiable professional relationship. During a 1986 interview, Bonet did with David Letterman, he asked Bonet, then 19, why she would want to leave the popular sitcom “The Cosby Show” for its spin-off, “A Different World.”
“They told me to?” she retorted.
Bonet angered Cosby and shocked popular culture with 1987’s Angel Heart where she had a very convincing and controversial sex scene with Mickey Rourke. Her role clashed with the pristine image of Denise Huxtable, Bonet’s character on “The Cosby Show.”
Cosby told Ebony in 1987 that he and Bonet had “very, very strong conversations” and “Lisa knows that if I’m upset about something, like, say mad, I don’t bite my tongue.”
Bonet was eventually fired from “The Cosby Show” for creative differences and did not appear in the finale, nor did she bother to return for a brief reunion with the rest of the cast members.
Net-a-Porter asked Bonet if the allegations against Cosby have tainted her memories of working on the show.
“No, it’s exactly as I remember it,” she said.
