Celebrity
Raven-Symone Defends Bill Cosby’s Legacy Despite ‘Horrific’ Allegations
Raven-Symoné is speaking out about her former costar Bill Cosby — and despite the allegations made against him, she’s not cancelling him.
During a Monday, November 3 appearance on the Hate to Break It to Ya podcast, the That’s So Raven alum, 38, said she can “separate the creator from the creation” when it comes to the disgraced comedian.
“The creation changed America. Changed television,” she continued, referring to The Cosby Show.
However, she didn’t gloss over Cosby’s dark side, saying: “He’s also been accused of some horrific things. That does not excuse [it], but that’s his personal [life].”
“So, personally, keep that there, and then business wise, know what he did there as well,” she added, noting that “both can live” when it comes to the realities of his legacy.
More than 60 women have accused Cosby, 87, of charges including rape, sexual battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment. He was convicted in 2018 on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, stemming from accusations by Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand but walked free in 2021 after Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction on procedural grounds.
His reckoning still isn’t over: Once hailed as “America’s Dad,” the fallen funnyman continues to face civil suits from multiple women alleging decades of sexual abuse, per a Courthouse News report.
As a child actress, Symoné — who played Olivia Kendall on the feel-good family series — and Cosby worked alongside each other for three years until the show wrapped its final season in 1992.
