Raven Symone Not Convinced Bill Cosby Is Guilty After Supporter Jill Scott Admits She's 'Hurt, Disgusted' by Mentor's Admission That He Drugged Women
Raven Symone, the actress who began her career as a child star on "The Cosby Show," said publicly that she's not convinced Bill Cosby is guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting women, despite the release of a 2005 court deposition on Monday in which the actor admitted to giving sedatives to at least one woman he wanted to have sex with.
"I don't really like to talk about it that much because he's the reason I'm on this panel in the first place. He gave me my first job," Raven-Symoné, the 29-year-old co-host of "The View," said. "But at the same time, you need the proof, and then I'll be able to give my judgment here or there. And now there are real facts. More people can come up."
Cosby, the 77-year-old comedian who became a popular TV dad in the 1980s and 1990s on the family sitcom "The Cosby Show," has been the subject of media scrutiny since late 2014 when close to two dozen women accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting them. On Monday, The Associated Press obtained a 2005 court document where Cosby admitted to purchasing the sedative Quaaludes with the intention of drugging a former Temple University employee.
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When guest-host of "The View" actress Candace Cameron Bure said Cosby's deposition proved that he was "guilty, guilty guilty," Symoné questioned, "But guilty of what?"
The AP reports that the case that Andrea Constand brought against the comedian was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2006. Still, the actual 2005 deposition documented Cosby admitting to purchasing drugs with the intention of giving them to women.
"When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Constand's lawyer, Dolores M. Troiani, questioned Cosby.
Cosby simply responded, "Yes."
When the plaintiff's lawyer asked if Cosby gave the women Quaaludes "without their knowledge," Cosby's lawyer interupted which caused the two to argue. Cosby, however, did admit to giving drugs to another unnamed witness before having sexual relations with the young woman who was not present at the deposition.
"I meet Ms [Redacted] in Las Vegas," Cosby's statement from the deposition reads. "She meets me back stage. I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex."
After the news of the deopsition was released Monday night, Grammy award winning singer Jill Scott said she was disgusted after previously showing public support for her mentor, Bill Cosby.
Scott, the 43-year-old "Get On Up" actress, was presented with an honorary Temple University doctorate degree by Cosby in 2014, but admitted she was hurt by the recent reports that have surfaced.
"About Bill Cosby. Sadly, his own testimony offers PROOF of terrible deeds, which is ALL I have ever required to believe the accusations," Scott tweeted on Monday.
"Proof will always matter more than public opinion. The sworn testimony is proof," she added. "Completely disgusted. I stood by a man I respected and loved. I was wrong. It HURTS!!!"
The comments come months after Scott took to Twitter to defend Cosby.
"If this is true, he'll face his due just like everyone," she responded to fans in a tweet last year. "I'm respecting a man who has done more for the image of brown people than almost anyone EVER. From Fat Albert to the Huxtables."
