Raven-Symoné Separates Bill Cosby’s ‘Horrific’ Sexual Assault Allegations From His Cultural Impact: His Show ‘Changed America’

During a recent appearance on the “Hate to Break It to Ya” podcast, Raven-Symoné says she separates Bill Cosby‘s impact on the TV industry from his “horrific” sexual assault allegations.

“Separate the creator from the creation,” she said. “And that’s just where I live. The creation changed America. Changed television.”

“He’s also been accused of some horrific things,” Symoné added. “That does not excuse, but that’s his personal . So personally, keep that there, and then business-wise, know what he did there as well. Like you said, both can live, and I think our culture is right to…don’t do wrong. Don’t do wrong personally. You just can’t do wrong.”

Symoné appeared as Olivia Kendall alongside Cosby on “The Cosby Show” from 1989 until the show’s end in 1992. Cosby co-created the show in 1984 and starred as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable. “The Cosby Show” earned six Emmy awards and ran for 197 episodes.

Cosby first faced sexual assault allegations back in 2004 from Andrea Constand, but it wasn’t until 2014 that the accusations became widely known. In 2014, Barbara Bowman, who testified in support of Constand’s civil suit against Cosby, penned an op-ed for The Washington Post titled, “Bill Cosby raped me. Why did it take 30 years for people to believe my story?”

In the years following, dozens more women came forward with their own allegations against Cosby. In 2016, he was ordered to stand trial by the Montgomery County Magisterial District Court for sexual assault. The trial began in June 2017 and ended in a mistrial after twelve days.

Cosby was eventually convicted in a 2018 retrial on three felony counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania overturned the conviction in 2021 due to a previous agreement Cosby had with Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor. The pair agreed Cosby could not be prosecuted if he provided a deposition in Constand’s civil case.