Janice Dickinson Speaks About Bill Cosby’s Release, And Phylicia Rashad Has More To Say
Yesterday we all found that 83-year-old Bill Cosby would not, in fact, be spending the rest of his days in prison for rape, because a legal technicality had gotten him an early release after just two years served on a 3-10 year prison sentence. Bill is probably celebrating, and we know his TV wife Phylicia Rashad was throwing up her hands in celebration. But someone must have told her that her unbridled enthusiasm for Bill’s release was capital-t Tacky, because she’s released a second statement on the matter. We know the news was probably the height of awful for Bill’s victims. And one alleged victim – Janice Dickinson – confirmed as much, when she released her own statement describing that the news of Bill’s release absolutely, undeniably, 100% sucks.
Bill Cosby was serving time for drugging and raping Andrea Constand at his home in Pennsylvania in 2004. Andrea was obviously very saddened by the court’s decision. via People:
“Today’s majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern in that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action.”
Janice Dickinson first spoke about her experience with Bill Cosby in her 2002 autobiography, and in 2014, she came out and said that he drugged and raped her in Lake Tahoe in 1982. Janice testified against Bill in his rape trial and sued him for defamation. That case was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount. So it’s reasonable to expect that this news didn’t go over well with Janice. Anyone who has been blessed enough to have seen an early episode of ANTM knows that Janice does her best dragging in front of a TV camera, so thankfully, Entertainment Tonight was there to capture how she felt:
“I’m angry. I’m angry they let him out over a procedural. That’s basically all I have to say. I can’t get into the legalese about it. I can only speak from my heart and say that the statute of limitations is not fair. It’s just not fair. This morning when I got up and rolled out of bed, my friend, Stephen Lenehan, gave me a telephone call and he told me, he said, ‘I have some bad news.’ And I was bracing for a hurricane or something, and he was like, ‘Cosby is out of prison.’…First of all, [I felt] so angry. So angry. Second, I felt like I was kicked in the stomach, in my abdomen, by some psychic blow.”
Reaction to the news of Cosby’s release was mixed and to those rejoicing, Dickinson has this message: “I say to those people, you have not been raped by him. I was raped by Bill Cosby. And I know that it changed my life forever. That’s why my heart goes out to all the women who started #MeToo after I first came out on your show. I just think people are ignorant.”
Janice Dickinson is speaking out after Bill Cosby's 2018 conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand was overturned. https://t.co/wbOhfvO8oM pic.twitter.com/sqS6PavJWV
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) July 1, 2021
Bill also has the protection of supporters, like Phylicia Rashad, who returned to social media to comment further on the situation. Phylicia’s original reaction to the news of Bill’s release was joy and several exclamation marks. I’m guessing someone whispered in her ear that if she wanted to keep her job as the dean of Howard University’s fine arts college, she better act just a bit less excited for the release of a rapist. So she released this statement acknowledging the victims and hid it in her Instagram Stories (no permanent spot on the main page? I see how it is).
When Phylicia gets called into the main office of Howard University for her ceremonial slap on the wrist, she can point to that Instagram Story and say, “Um, hello – I totally feel bad for the women he raped, see? Oh wait, you can’t see. Those stories disappear after 24 hours.“. Howard University distanced themselves from Phylicia’s statement but it seems like she gets to keep her job for now.
Phylicia’s also got her own personal hater, and it’s another iconic TV mom, the Original Aunt Viv, aka Janet Hubert. Janet hopped on Twitter and said what everyone was thinking when Clair Huxtable jumped to celebrate Bill:
I would have said he's old he's out and I'm happy for him, but he still …guilty. I know 5 women who have not come forward. Enough Ya'll we know better. Powerful men do wrong things, black or white…
— Janet Hubert (@OGJanetHubert) June 30, 2021
Unfortunately, Janet was not able to directly address Phylicia Rashad’s original tweet supporting Bill, because Phylicia had set it so that only people she follows of mentions can reply to it. Probably for the best. Getting a direct social media slap down from the Original Aunt Viv is something that knocks the wind out of you for days. And Phylicia can’t take that much time off – she’s got Cosby defending to do!
Pics: Wenn.com/FayesVision, Instagram