#ByePhylicia Trends As Many Call For Phylicia Rashad To Be Fired From Howard University For Supporting Bill Cosby’s Release

July 2, 2021 by Nick Fenley in TV with 0 Comments

#ByePhylicia Trends As Many Call For Phylicia Rashad To Be Fired From Howard University For Supporting Bill Cosby’s Release

Update #2 (July 2nd): Many are calling for Phylicia Rashad to be fired from Howard University after her remarks on Bill Cosby’s release.

Phylicia Rashad was named the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the HBCU earlier this year.

#ByePhylicia (a nod to classic film Friday) trended on Twitter as many said she should be fired. See a few tweets below.

https://twitter.com/smartinez411/status/1410384016784691205?s=20

Original Story (July 1st): Howard University has stepped in following Phylicia Rashad‘s statements regarding Bill Cosby‘s sudden release from prison.

As previously reported, Phylicia Rashad celebrated the release of her The Cosby Show co-star, Bill Cosby, after his conviction was overturned. Bill Cosby was imprisoned after being found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. However, he was also accused of doing the same to dozens of women throughout the past few decades.

Following the news of Bill Cosby‘s release, Phylicia Rashad tweeted:

“FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted–a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”

After facing immediate backlash, she disabled replies to her tweet. Later, she issued a follow-up statement via her Instagram story, writing:

“I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth. Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”

After Phylicia Rashad‘s series of statements, Howard University issued a comment of its own. For context, Phylicia Rashad was named the new Dean of Howard University’s College of Fine Arts less than two months ago. Following her remarks, Howard University wrote:

“Survivors of sexual assault will always be our priority. While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault. Personal positions of University leadership do not reflect Howard University’s policies. We will continue to advocate for survivors fully and support their right to be heard. Howard will stand with survivors and challenge systems that would deny them justice. We have full confidence that our faculty and school leadership will live up to this sacred commitment.”