Keshia Knight Pulliam Comes To Bill Cosby’s Defense During Amber Rose Interview

Keshia Knight Pulliam worked with Bill Cosby for many years on the beloved family sitcom The Cosby Show, and now she’s the latest of his co-stars coming to his defense after the sexual abuse allegations leveled against him came up during an interview.

Pulliam made it clear to model Amber Rose during a sit-down with The Ryan Report on Friday that although she’s a feminist and has a firm stance on giving women the opportunity to speak out about what happened to them, she can’t see that side of Cosby and still cares about him as much as she did when they were working together. After Rose said she gets “frustrated” when she hears people defending Cosby, Keshia stopped her in her tracks.

“Okay okay…let me just say this right quick. I feel you, and everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but we still live in a country where you’re innocent till proven guilty. And I understand everything that has happened, and me being a feminist and believing women — no means no and I get that — but, just so you know, I worked with him for a really long time. I love him dearly still and that isn’t the man that I know,” Pulliam said.

It’s unclear whether Keshia Knight Pulliam is aware of Rose’s new line of emojis, which includes an image of Cosby holding up a sign that reads, “I did it.” Rose has been releasing the images on Instagram over the past several days, which also include similar emojis to the ones Kim Kardashian recently released.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDmdwrhkq0L/?taken-by=amberrose

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDteTTlEq8L/?taken-by=amberrose

Keshia has stayed pretty quiet about the allegations until now, although according to her former co-star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the cast of The Cosby Show is feeling the repercussions of the accusations that Cosby drugged and/or sexually assaulted dozens of women over the span of several years. Warner says there have been financial issues for him now that several television stations have dropped reruns of the show in the fallout.

“Yes, there are financial repercussions that we’ve experienced because of that,” Warner said earlier this year.

Warner also noted that he and Cosby have always been close, saying he didn’t feel comfortable talking about the comedian’s state of mind in light of recent events because he prefers to keep their private conversations just that.

“He’s doing alright. That part I really don’t feel comfortable talking about because we’ve always had a close personal relationship. He’s always been very, very good to me. Our personal conversations I tend to keep personal.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that a civil deposition that Cosby gave during a previous sexual assault case several years ago won’t be used in the new criminal matter, which could harm the case for the accusers. The deposition was given in regards to an accusation by Andrea Constand, who says Cosby sexually assaulted her at his home in 2004 and was meant to keep him from pleading the 5th.

Meanwhile, a new exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., will feature the works of Bill Cosby but will also include an acknowledgment that he has been accused by over 50 women of sexual assault. The museum issued a statement saying their original intention was to let Cosby’s work “stand on its own,” but after a public backlash, the museum decided to include the allegations and their impact on his career.

“This is not an exhibition that ‘honors or celebrates’ Bill Cosby but one that acknowledges his role, among many others, in American entertainment. Visitors will leave the exhibition knowing more about Mr. Cosby’s impact on American entertainment, while recognizing that his legacy has been severely damaged by the recent accusations,” said museum director Lonnie Bunch.

[Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images]