Copyright Us Weekly
Raven-Symoné is opening up about the complicated legacy of her former The Cosby Show costar Bill Cosby. “Separate the creator from the creation, and that’s just where I live,” Symoné, 39, said on the Monday, November 3, episode of the “Hate to Break It to Ya” podcast. “The creation changed America [and] changed television.” Cosby, 88, conceived his eponymous The Cosby Show in the 1980s, which ran for eight seasons about a fictional Black family in Philadelphia. Symoné got her big break on The Cosby Show, joining in the final years as Cosby’s onscreen step-granddaughter, Olivia. Decades after The Cosby Show wrapped, the comedian was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 60 women. He was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018, and he was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. After serving two years in jail, Cosby was released in 2021 when his conviction was overturned on appeal. (Cosby has long maintained his innocence regarding every misconduct accusation.) “He has been accused of some horrific things, and that does not excuse [anything],” Symoné said. “But, that’s his personal. Personally, keep that there, and then, business-wise, know what he did there as well. Both can live, and I think our culture is right to not do wrong. You just can’t do wrong.” Symoné has seldom addressed Cosby’s controversies in the years since The Cosby Show wrapped in 1992. She continued her career at the Disney Channel, headlining That’s So Raven, The Cheetah Girls, Kim Possible and more. “I got into the Disney family when I was 13 on a movie called Zenon Girl of the 21st Century,” Symoné recalled on Monday. “It was just really interesting because nobody from Disney at the time had a career like mine prior to signing with Disney. I already had two shows, I already had two albums, I already have a movie [and] I already have done all kinds of things.” According to Symoné, she and her team attempted to “keep ties” on what was underneath Disney’s umbrella and what belonged to the actress. “It all became wonderfully muddy when the character was named after me,” Symoné recalled. “It was amazing because, very rarely, do women get that as much as a man does … but I was the youngest to have a show named after her of color and female. As I continued my career, I said, ‘Let’s keep going with Disney. They’re doing a great job.’” Symoné also continued making music, switching to Disney’s label. “[My] music career didn’t do so well underneath their bracket because I don’t subscribe to some of those things that [were] being asked of me,” she noted. “Just the type of music. I’m your Bjork person. … I like weird original stuff, anyway, music didn’t pan out in that world and I’m OK with that because I got to keep the power and control over my music career in a way that no one else really had at that time.” Symoné has since remained on amicable terms with the Disney executives, recently starring and executive-producing a Raven’s Home spinoff. “I understand the morals and the values of the onscreen branding that Disney understands,” Symoné said. “I’m sure now that my podcast is out with my wife [Miranda Pearman-Maday isn’t] very Disney-like, but that’s my personal. Got to separate the work from the personal.” If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
