The man who played Bill Cosby’s son-in-law for three seasons on The Cosby Show has added his voice to the chorus of critics slamming the formerly beloved comic. Joseph C. Phillips was Denise Huxtable’s husband Martin Kendall on the show and formerly considered Bill a mentor. But those feelings changed after he spoke to a female friend who had also been ‘mentored’ by Cosby. As we referenced earlier this week, in his blog post “Of Course Bill Cosby Is Guilty!”
“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.”
Well now, Phillips appeared on CNN to back up his story and explain how it was “very difficult to wrap your mind around the dark side we’re beginning to see,” in regards to Cosby. He claimed that the success of the comedian and his devotion as a father created a blind spot where people on set gave him a pass on his “playing around.” He said even after accusations started coming out, it was hard to come to terms with the idea that Cosby was capable of sexual assault. But that’s where we are today.
