Bill Cosby, who has been plagued by sexual assault allegations for the past several years, “loves and respects women” and is “not abusive, violent or a rapist,” his daughter said.
In an op-ed for National Newspaper Publishers Association on Wednesday, Evin Cosby defended her father, who is set to go to trial next month near Philadelphia for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.
Constand is one of dozens of women who have accused the once-beloved, barrier-breaking entertainer of drugging and raping them, sexual misconduct and more from incidents ranging from the mid-1960s through 2008.
“The public persecution of my dad, my kids’ grandfather, and the cruelty of the media and those who speak out branding my father a ‘rapist’ without ever knowing the truth and who shame our family and our friends for defending my dad, makes all of this so much worse for my family and my children,” Evin Cosby, the comedian’s fourth and youngest daughter, wrote.
She addressed some of the recent allegations, as well as one woman who claimed more than 10 years ago to have had a “love child” with her father, saying that “their stories didn’t match up.”
Evin Cosby also slammed the media, saying that “the more sexualized and provocative the story, the more attention it gets” and that “no one wanted to print” words in support and defense of Cosby.
“We are told that we have fundamental rights to be innocent until proven guilty. But, if enough people think you are a bad person, you are branded a bad person, and the media just reinforces that,” Evin Cosby’s letter continued.
“I know that my father loves me, loves my sisters and my mother. He loves and respects women,” she wrote. “He is not abusive, violent or a rapist. Sure, like many celebrities tempted by opportunity, he had his affairs, but that was between him and my mother. They have worked through it and moved on, and I am glad they did for them and for our family.”
The Constand trial is set to begin in June, but some of the allegations against Cosby have been dismissed, which Evin Cosby is “pleased” about. “I just hope that those who pre-judged my dad are now willing to admit that they were wrong,” she concluded.
Evin Cosby’s letter comes the day after Ivanka Trump defended her father, President Donald Trump, who has faced sexual assault allegations and backlash for his comments regarding women, including a leaked 2005 tape in which he boasted about groping women.
Speaking at a women’s summit in Berlin Tuesday, Trump said she was “very proud of her father’s advocacy” and that he was “a tremendous champion of supporting families,” which received boos and hisses from the crowd.
When asked to address the audience reaction, Trump said, “I certainly heard the criticism from the media, but I know from personal experience, and I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades when he was in the private sector are a testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man.”
