Joseph C. Phillips played Denise’s husband on the Cosby Show. He was Cliff Huxtable’s son in law. Now in a blogpost self-published, Phillips says that he knows Cosby is guilty of the things he’s been accused of– even though Phillips himself saw nothing inappropriate.
He says he ran into an actress whom Cosby had mentored. They discussed the current allegations. The young woman then confessed to Phillips what Cosby had done to her. Here’s the portion:
I was particularly shaken the afternoon I bumped into an old friend while shopping. The controversy was at its height. The story of Bill was all over the press. I hadn’t seen this woman for many years. Back in the day, I had asked her out on a few dates, but was relegated to the friend zone so fast it made my ears wiggle. We had kept in touch for a few years, but our lives had taken different paths. Over the years, I had watched with a passive interest as her career grew, so I was excited to see her and catch up a bit.
As we spoke, I recalled that Bill had been her mentor (play father, teacher…something. I couldn’t quite recall what it was). The question popped into my head.
“Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?”
She looked at me and then asked, “Is it going to make me cry?”
I was a bit taken aback. “Well,” I stammered. “I hope it doesn’t make you cry.”
She smiled. “Go ahead and ask your question.”
“Back in the day,” I started. “I remember that you knew Bill – that he was like your mentor or something. Did he ever…”
Before I finished the sentence, she began to cry.
We spent the next two hours sitting on a bench talking. Through tears, she told me her story. She cursed him for violating both her trust and her body. She cursed herself for not being smarter, and for degrading herself in pursuit of success. I listened patiently. As she began to run out of steam, she turned to me. “Do you believe me?”
“Yes.” I said. “I believe you.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I don’t believe that you are crazy and only a crazy person would sit with me all this time and share a fantasy.”
And that’s it. Also Whoopi Goldberg has finally changed her opinion of Cosby. I know it was hard for her. She admired him, like a lot of us. I respect her for defending him. Cosby’s real story is a bitter pill to swallow.
