The accusations of rape against Bill Cosby have cast a dark shadow over the legacy of “The Cosby Show,” but Malcolm-Jamal Warner hopes society can eventually see Cosby’s work outside the context of his alleged crimes, much like the works of celebrated filmmakers like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
In a HuffPost Live conversation about his new album “Selfless”, Warner, who played Theo Huxtable on Cosby’s legendary sitcom, compared Cosby’s situation to those of Allen and Polanski, who have both faced allegations of their own.
“When we talk about Woody Allen, we don’t talk about his controversy. When we talk about Roman Polanski now, that’s no longer part of the conversation. So if that’s how it goes, then I hope the same will be of ‘The Cosby Show,'” Warner told host Caroline-Modarressy Tehrani.
Although Warner told The Associated Press that the show’s legacy had been “tarnished” with the increased public scrutiny towards Cosby, Warner said he agreed with former co-star Keshia Knight Pulliam’s thoughts on the issue. Pulliam, who was just 5 years old when the show debuted in 1984, told HuffPost Live last week the sitcom’s legacy “still lives with people today.”
Warner explained on Tuesday:
[Pulliam’s] take on it is that the legacy cannot be tarnished because all of the good that that show has done cannot be taken away. The generation of people who have gone to college because of “The Cosby Show” and because of “A Different World,” that cannot be taken away. The generation of people who decided to become doctors and lawyers and have families where they are actively involved in their families and loving their children and raising their children and being present in their lives because of watching “The Cosby Show,” that cannot be taken away.
Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with Malcolm-Jamal Warner here.
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