*Phylicia Rashad is catching heat for celebrating Bill Cosby’s release from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his sexual assault conviction.
“FINALLY!!!!” she wrote on Twitter. “A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
Cosby is set to be released from prison on Wednesday after the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court has vacated his conviction. The court agreed to review two aspects of Cosby’s case. The first involved the judge’s decision to let prosecutors call five other accusers. The other examined Cosby’s argument that he had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he’d never be charged, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Cosby has been hoping the state Supreme Court, which heard his appeal in December, would reverse his conviction in the first celebrity trial of the #MeToo era. Cosby’s lawyers say the trial was flawed because five other accusers were allowed to testify to support the sexual assault complaint filed by a former Temple University basketball team manager.
They also say the judge should not have let the jury hear Cosby’s damaging testimony from accuser Andrea Constand’s related civil suit.
READ MORE: Bill Cosby to be Released from Prison! Sentence Reportedly Vacated: Report
FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected! pic.twitter.com/NrGUdwr23c
— Phylicia Rashad (@PhyliciaRashad) June 30, 2021
“Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged,” the justices wrote in their opinion, as reported by Deadline. The ruling means Cosby can not be charged for the rape of Constand again.
While the comments on Rashad’s tweet were closed, several angry Twitter users expressed their fury over her remarks.
Check out some of the reactions below.
The news that a serial rapist will be released felt awful but Rashad’s response makes me sick to my stomach. To see another woman rub salt in wounds of survivors? It’s enraging.
— Lize????????♀️???? (@Holleywood87) June 30, 2021
Claire H. was such an excellent example of a strong, intelligent, independent woman. Too bad the actor behind that role fails to exemplify those qualities. Makes me sad.
— Barb Morrison ???????? (@bkmorrison) June 30, 2021
That panicked scraping you hear is the sound of the THIS IS US creative team furiously writing Phylicia Rashad out of the last season of the show. https://t.co/kKSIeX2fQl
— Mike Rothschild (@rothschildmd) 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
I don’t get it. How can she believe 60+ women tell the same story of being drugged and violated, none of whom new each other before Andrea Constas and later Hannibal Burress came forward.
— Lynn Blackwell (@LuckyLynn) June 30, 2021
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