Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy
Huxtable on The Cosby Show, spoke out in support of Bill Cosby on Access
Hollywood Live, and said she “can’t ignore the legacy he’s built over
the last 50 years,” amid more than 20 recent rape allegations that have
surfaced against him. “Ultimately, I really can’t speak to that,”
Pulliam said of the allegations.
“Whoever is involved, those are the people who were there. I wasn’t there. I can only speak to the great man that I know and love, who has been so generous, who has been such a philanthropist and giving back millions of dollars to education and schools. And just the man I grew up knowing. It’s really not my place to speak on that. Unfortunately, in the court of public opinion everyone has formed their opinion, but we’re still in America, and you’re innocent until proven guilty of any crimes.”
She went on to explain who Cosby was to her. “He was awesome. He was
the guy who made jokes with me to make me remember my lines ... he’s the
man who inspired me to be such an entrepreneur ... I feel that his
legacy and all the great things he’s done speak volumes.”
Pulliam was the first to be fired on this season’s The Celebrity Apprentice for refusing to call her TV dad to ask for funding on the show for charity.
Pulliam said she hasn’t spoken with Cosby in five years, aside from Cosby events, and that it would have been “tacky” to call him. Though Pulliam said her other donors were enough to support her endeavors on the show, Donald Trump said her team was dismissed because “it would have been a very good call to make for charity.” Though the episode had filmed a year before recent allegations, Pulliam said she made the decision not to call Cosby because she “didn’t feel it was necessary”.
“When it comes to women’s issues, I’m very much to the forefront and I’m very much a proponent of them. However, I also believe in due process and fair being fair.”
“Whoever is involved, those are the people who were there. I wasn’t there. I can only speak to the great man that I know and love, who has been so generous, who has been such a philanthropist and giving back millions of dollars to education and schools. And just the man I grew up knowing. It’s really not my place to speak on that. Unfortunately, in the court of public opinion everyone has formed their opinion, but we’re still in America, and you’re innocent until proven guilty of any crimes.”
Pulliam was the first to be fired on this season’s The Celebrity Apprentice for refusing to call her TV dad to ask for funding on the show for charity.
Pulliam said she hasn’t spoken with Cosby in five years, aside from Cosby events, and that it would have been “tacky” to call him. Though Pulliam said her other donors were enough to support her endeavors on the show, Donald Trump said her team was dismissed because “it would have been a very good call to make for charity.” Though the episode had filmed a year before recent allegations, Pulliam said she made the decision not to call Cosby because she “didn’t feel it was necessary”.
“When it comes to women’s issues, I’m very much to the forefront and I’m very much a proponent of them. However, I also believe in due process and fair being fair.”
