Update (July 1, 2021): Howard University released a statement on Wednesday addressing Phylicia Rashad’s comments regarding Bill Cosby’s release from prison.
“Survivors of sexual assault will always be our priority. 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,” the statement read. “Personal positions of University leadership do not reflect Howard University’s policies."
“We will continue to advocate for survivors fully and support their right to be heard. Howard will stand with survivors and challenge systems that would deny them justice. We have full confidence that our faculty and school leadership will live up to this sacred moment,” the university concluded.
Rashad took to Twitter on Wednesday to celebrate Cosby’s conviction being overturned in Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” the 73-year-old wrote in a tweet.
FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected! pic.twitter.com/NrGUdwr23c
— Phylicia Rashad (@PhyliciaRashad) June 30, 2021
In May, Rashad was named dean of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts, as Blavity previously reported.
“It is a privilege to serve in this capacity and to work with the Howard University administration, faculty and students in reestablishing the College of Fine Arts,” the former The Cosby Show actress said of her appointment.
Linda Correia, a Washington lawyer who sued Howard University in 2017 on behalf of six then-current students for the school’s failure to respond adequately to accusations of sexual violence, said of Rashad’s first tweet, “Well, I think the miscarriage of justice is for the victims,” CNBC reported.
“It’s not surprising that she supported him. She’s always supported him,” Correia added. “I would say that I think that any statement that is contrary to recognizing the miscarriage of justice for those women who had the courage to come forward is not what student survivors probably want to see right now.”
Rashad is slated to begin her new role as dean on July 1 and it is unclear whether that date will be postponed.
Original (June 30, 2021): Bill Cosby was released from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction. Although some have mixed reactions to the comedian’s release, there is one person who delighted in Cosby's release, actress Phylicia Rashad.
Shortly after news broke of the 83-year-old's release, Rashad took to Twitter to celebrate.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” Rashad wrote in a tweet.
FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected! pic.twitter.com/NrGUdwr23c
— Phylicia Rashad (@PhyliciaRashad) June 30, 2021
Many people have taken to Twitter to criticize Rashad's response.
One Twitter user believed Rashad’s response was out of place.
Phylicia Rashad is a dean of a school at Howard University, an HBCU with more Black women students than men — and she is capping for a man who admitted to drugging women and having sex with them in the process.
Fall semester is about to be a trip…
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) June 30, 2021
i actually love phylicia rashad and am sad
— Astead (@AsteadWesley) June 30, 2021
Another Twitter user reminded Rashad that Cosby confessed to drugging women.
the nigga confessed. save the dumb shit, please.
— king crissle (@crissles) June 30, 2021
We cannot be surprised at this point but it still stings. https://t.co/qc10XeudME
— Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) June 30, 2021
Phylicia's response here is not surprising but it is disappointing, given her role as an academic dean charged with the welfare of her students, some of whom will be survivors. https://t.co/TtOshLqtMk
— Victoria M. Walker (@vikkie) June 30, 2021
As a @HowardU School of Fine Arts alum, and as a survivor, this tweet from @PhyliciaRashad is disappointing. I hope we can have a dean who believes & respects survivors. Howards students who are survivors, I believe you & here are resources: https://t.co/AedmHaOPxN
#HUStands
https://t.co/qD4doAncIT— a Black-passing openly Black Latina. (@aliciasanchez) June 30, 2021
Rashad later posted to Instagram, expressing support for sexual assault survivors.
"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," she wrote.
Attorney Gloria Allred who represented a number of the women says the court's decision to overturn Cosby's conviction and release him from prison is "devastating," CNN reported.
Rashad, who played Cosby’s wife on the sitcom The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, has stood by the comedian's side. Rashad emphasized Cosby’s image as “America’s Dad” at the time of the allegations, Variety reported.
In 2015, Cosby was charged with raping Andrea Constand at his home in Philadelphia in 2004.
According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, District Attorney Kevin Steele, who arrested Cosby in 2015, had an obligation to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge the comedian, however, he did not follow suit. Once Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court discovered that was the case, the court had no choice but to overturn Cosby's sexual assault conviction.
Cosby was the first celebrity to be tried and sentenced during the #MeToo era, the Associated Press reported.
