Bill Cosby’s on-air son from “The Cosby Show” Malcolm-Jamal Warner commented on the wave of rape and sexual assault accusations against the TV legend, saying it was “painful” to watch his “mentor” handle the allegations.
“He’s one of my mentors, and he’s been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor,” Warner, who once played Theo Huxtable, told Billboard magazine in an interview published Wednesday.
“Just as it’s painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it’s just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this,” he added.
Warner went on to talk about Cosby’s personal kindness to him, the comedian’s television legacy, and “[w]hat he’s done for the black community and education.”
“That’s the Bill Cosby I know,” he said. “I can’t speak on the other stuff.”
I thought this was a classy comment that showed respect to the women who have made their allegations against Cosby and what they’re going through, while also acknowledging the positive role that Cosby has played in Warner’s own life. It doesn’t dismiss the women or their stories on the basis of Warner not having experienced what they’ve claimed. I found this a much better way to comment on the story than Phylicia Rashad’s dismissive attempts.
It’s very painful to him that all the residuals from the show are going away.
That’s exactly what I thought as well. Classy.
Yeah it’s like his ear is getting raped. He’s forced to listen to things he doesn’t want to.
I didn’t interpret his comment that way at all. Look, if someone (or in this case, lots of someones) says that someone who has played a positive role in my life was responsible for some really horrific stuff, and they offer some pretty convincing evidence, I’d find that painful, too, because it’s difficult to acknowledge that people we care for might have done something horrible.
The key thing is to recognize that while not dismissing any allegations out of hand, ie “This person was good to me so I flat-out disbelieve anything that contradicts that narrative.” That’s what Rashad did with her “forget these women” rant and it is not what Warner did. I don’t see any basis for attacking him in these comments.