‘Our justice system MUST change’: Celebrities slam Bill Cosby’s overturned conviction
‘THIS is why women do not come forward’
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Your support makes all the difference.Celebrities expressed outrage at Bill Cosby’s overturned conviction by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday.
“I don't want to hear anything about how cancel culture ruined men's lives during the MeToo era reckoning for women and survivors,” wrote actor Amber Tamblyn on Twitter. “How we went too far. Today's news that Cosby's conviction is being overturned is proof we haven't gone far enough. Our justice system MUST change.”
“THIS is why women do not come forward,” agreed writer E Jean Carroll, who has accused former President Donald Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the Nineties.
“I’m enraged, heartbroken and disgusted by Cosby’s release,” wrote actor and director Christine Lahti. “I can only imagine what all his survivors must be feeling. This convicted rapist is free today because he is a man of privilege. The Patriarchy rears its ugly head yet again.”
“I never wanna hear ‘well did you report it?’ again,” wrote comedian Lane Moore. “60 women accused Bill Cosby, and even with 60 accusers we took years to convict, and now he’s going free anyway. there are no consequences for rape and rapists know that. so let’s be real: rape is fully legal in this country.”
Singer Stella Parton wrote: “How can the Supreme Court overturn something after a conviction on a factual occurrence? Oh, excuse me, if you are male and have enough money and influence you can even be President no matter how corrupt you may be. Bill Cosby is just one of many. Look at Marilyn Manson!”
There were, however, some positive reactions out of Hollywood. Cosby’s former The Cosby Show costar Phylicia Rashād wrote on Instagram: “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
After nearly three years in prison, Cosby is a free man following Wednesday’s decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to vacate his 2018 conviction on three charges of aggravated indecent assault.
The comedian and actor has long maintained his innocence in the case, which stems from an accusation that he drugged and had sex with a Temple University employee in 2004.
The court ruling on Wednesday resulted from an agreement Cosby struck with a district attorney, Bruce Castor, in 2005 wherein Mr Castor declined to prosecute Cosby in exchange for the latter’s testimony during a civil trial.
The justices ruled that the agreement prevented prosecution for the claims brought by Andrea Constand, the former director of operations for Temple’s women’s basketball team, and wrote that the prosecutorial discretion of Pennsylvania’s district attorneys was not “free of the constraints of due process”.
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