Actress and co-star of “The Bill Cosby Show” Phylicia Rashad reacted to Bill Cosby being released from prison Wednesday on Twitter.
“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted,” Rashad wrote. “A miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
A few hours later, Rashad wanted to clarify her message and voice support for survivors of sexual assault who come forward. "My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth," said Rashad. "Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing."
Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 sexual assault conviction. The state’s high court said the prosecutor was bound by his predecessor’s promise not to charge the television star. That agreement prevented prosecutors from charging Cosby at all, the court said.
A jury found Cosby guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004 when she visited him to get career advice.
The former district attorney had declined to prosecute Cosby for the incident with Constand in exchange for him testifying in a separate civil action without his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Cosby relied on that promise and provided four sworn depositions, incriminating himself in three of those. The succeeding district attorney did not feel bound by that agreement and prosecuted Cosby.
The Supreme Court said it would not undermine prosecutors' authority to investigate crimes and charge at their discretion. But because the decision not to charge was made public and the defendant relied upon it, denying him that promise “is an affront to fundamental fairness,” the court wrote.
Cosby appeared with his legal team before cameras outside his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania home Wednesday afternoon but did not speak.
Not everyone shared Rashad’s sentiment of a 'wrong being righted.'
In a statement, a disappointed Andrea Constand said Cosby's release was based on a "procedural technicality" and worried whether it would discourage other sexual assault victims from speaking out. She said she is grateful, however, for the women who came forward about Cosby and the prosecutors who helped get a conviction.
“I am furious to hear this news,” Amber Tamblyn wrote on Twitter. “I personally know women who this man drugged and raped while unconscious. Shame on the court and this decision.”