Phylicia Rashad Pens Letter To Howard University To Students And Parents For Defending Bill Cosby: “I Offer My Most Sincere Apology”
Socialites get into this! After facing backlash for defending Bill Cosby’s vacated sexual assault conviction and subsequent prison release, his former co-star Phylicia Rashad offered a “sincere apology” to Howard University students and parents on Friday for showing support to him.
As we previously reported, Rashad was one of the first big stars to celebrate his release on Wednesday. She said in a tweet, “”FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” After backlash, she followed up with another post that read, “I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
Still, people were disappointed with Rashad, The Cosby Show” actress and alum of Howard University who was appointed as the dean of the school’s reestablished College of Fine Arts in May. Now, she’s apologizing: “My remarks were in no way directed towards survivors of sexual assault. I vehemently oppose sexual violence, find no excuse for such behavior, and I know that Howard University has a zero-tolerance policy toward interpersonal violence,” Rashad wrote, according to Fox News.
This comes after Howard University disavowed the support Rashad showed for Cosby: “Survivors of sexual assault will always be our first priority,” read a statement posted on Howard University’s verified social media accounts. “While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault.” In its statement, Howard wrote, “Personal positions of University leadership do not reflect Howard University’s policies.”
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