Phylicia Rashad Reacts as Bill Cosby's Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned: 'A Terrible Wrong Is Being Righted'

Bill Cosby is a free man.

On Wednesday, news broke that the disgraced TV star was to be released from prison after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction.

In the hours that followed, he was released from prison.

Cosby was first convicted in 2018 and was later set to spend three to 10 years in prison for three counts of sexual assault.

He was charged with three counts of aggravated indecent assault after being accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.

Cosby was registered as a sexually violent predator. He has spent the last two years imprisoned at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Philadelphia, Pa.

While the trial that convicted Cosby only addressed Constand’s allegations, the star had faced allegations of similar assaults from more than 60 women, five of whom testified at the trial.

His defense argued that the encounter with Constand was consensual. At the time, he declined to take the witness stand and testify on his own behalf.

The 2018 trial was not the first to try Cosby. A previous attempt resulted in a mistrial in 2017 when the jury failed to reach a verdict.

In the aftermath of the shocking announcement of Cosby's release, his former Cosby Show co-star, Phylicia Rashad, took to Twitter to celebrate the announcement.

“FINALLY!!!!” she tweeted, adding:

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

Rashad has been open with her support of Cosby on several occasions, including a 2015 interview with Showbiz411.

“What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated,” she said at the time.

“I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

She also expressed her support in a sitdown with ABC News' Linsey Davis.

“He is a genius,” she said.

“He is generous, he is kind, he is inclusive… What has happened is declaration in the media of guilt, without proof.”

UPDATE: Rashad walked back her comments in a follow-up tweet.

Rashad wrote, “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.”

Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.