Phylicia Rashad Says She Was Misquoted On Bill Cosby Case: ‘That Is Not What I Said’

Phylicia Rashad came to Bill Cosby’s defense in his sex abuse scandal and appeared to downplay the seriousness of the situation. Her harsh comments appeared to make light of the accusations made by the large group of women who have spoken out against him, but now, she has come forward and said she was misquoted.

Rashad’s comments were first reported by Showbiz 411‘s Roger Friedman, and she said that Cosby was framed. She also seemed to dismiss the charges against him, and then, appeared to dismiss the woman who had come forward and said to forget them.

“Forget these women,” Rashad reportedly said. “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

According to the Washington Post, Rashad came forth on Wednesday night and let it be known that wasn’t what she said at all.

“That is a misquote, and that is not what I said. What I said is this is not about the women. This is about something else. This is about the obliteration of legacy.”

Phylicia Rashad started to receive a major backlash after her initial comments came out about Bill Cosby, the sexual assault allegations against him, and supposedly dismissing the women. People started coming down on her and attacking her on Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media.

Lindsey Davis of ABC told Rashad that many had seen her comments as “dismissive,” and she acted as if she didn’t care about the women involved. Rashad let it be known again that what was reported was not what she said.

“I am a woman. I would never say such a thing.”

Even though she made sure that she did not dismiss the women, she did cement the fact that she still supports Bill Cosby. Rashad still states that she believes there is a huge conspiracy to tear down her former co-star.

“What has happened is declaration in the media of guilt without proof.”

The comments from Phylicia Rashad were stated after three more women came forward on Wednesday and accused Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct and drugging them.

Friedman of Showbiz 411 released a statement regarding the situation with Rashad and what she said or didn’t say.

“Let me clear something. I did not misquote Phylicia Rashad. But she didn’t mean for it to be taken the way it was, and I should have punctuated. There was NEVER the meaning in ‘Forget those women’ that she was saying to actually forget or dismiss then. She meant, ‘those women aside’ — as in, she’s not talking about that, she’s talking about Cosby’s legacy being destroyed. It was conversational. Somehow this got twisted. I am really sorry if the way I presented it made it seem like either one of us was forgetting anyone. … What Phylicia was doing was defending her friend and his legacy. That’s what she said, that’s what I wrote, I’m sorry if it caused her grief. And no one asked me to write this. I’m just saying it because I like and respect her.“

Bill Cosby had canceled upcoming performances in both Arizona and Las Vegas and even offered refunds for sold-out shows in New York after being pressured to cancel. He did resume performances in his “Far Fro Finished” tour in Kitchener, Ontario, on Wednesday night.

Phylicia Rashad still stands by her former cast-mate, but wanted to simply clear her name and her words. She believes people are trying to tear down Bill Cosby with the whole sex scandal, but she did not belittle or dismiss the accusers.

[Image via Getty/TMZ]