Bill Cosby Says "People Support" Phylicia Rashad

Bill Cosby defends Phylicia Rashad after criticism 0:43

(CNN) -

Bill Cosby released a statement in support of his former co-star and longtime friend Phylicia Rashad, who earlier apologized for celebrating Cosby's release from prison.

Cosby, once known as "America's Daddy," was released Wednesday after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his conviction for sexual assault.

At the time, Rashad tweeted, "FINALLY !!!! A terrible mistake is being fixed, a judicial mistake is being corrected!" Along with a photo of Cosby.

She later removed the post, tweeted that she supported sexual assault survivors coming forward, and sent a letter of apology to parents and students at Howard University, where she is Dean of Fine Arts.

The university had rejected Rashad's show of support for Cosby, saying that "his initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault."

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"These main media outlets are the insurgents, the ones who stormed the Capitol," Cosby said in his statement released through a spokesman Sunday.

"Those same media insurgents are trying to demolish the Constitution of these United States [sic] of America this Independence Day."

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Cosby ended the statement with a sentence written in capital letters, "IT IS NOT A TECHNICISM - IT IS A VIOLATION OF ONE'S HUMAN RIGHTS AND WE THE PEOPLE SUPPORT MRS. PHYLICIA RASHAD."

In his letter on Friday, Rashad offered "(his) most sincere apology" for tweeting in celebration of the overturning of Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction.

"My comments were in no way directed at survivors of sexual assault. I am vehemently opposed to sexual violence, find no excuse for such behavior, and know that Howard University has a zero tolerance policy towards interpersonal violence," he wrote. Rashad, noting that he had since deleted Wednesday's "annoying tweet".

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Over the next several weeks, Rashad said he plans to "engage in active listening and participate in trainings not only to reinforce University protocol and conduct, but also to learn how I can become a stronger ally for survivors of sexual assault. and all those who have suffered at the hands of an abuser. "

In May, Rashad, a Howard University alumnus, was appointed dean of its recently re-established College of Fine Arts.

Howard University wrote that survivors of sexual assault would always be their priority.

"While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in his follow-up tweet that victims should be heard and believed, his initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault," he said in a statement posted on the University's verified social media accounts. Howard.

Cosby and Rashad have been friends for a long time.

Rashad played his wife twice on television: from 1984 to 1992 on the NBC sitcom "The Cosby Show" and on the CBS sitcom "Cosby," from 1996 to 2000.

- CNN's Keely Aouga and Laura Ly contributed to this report.

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