Convicted sexual assaulter Bill Cosby is reportedly planning to go on a stand-up comedy tour after the 83-year-old’s sudden, recent release from a Pennsylvania prison.
Cosby’s longtime spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, told TMZ “the world wants to see Mr. Cosby.”
Wyatt is reportedly leading efforts to book Cosby at comedy clubs across the nation. Additionally, Cosby is planning a five-part docuseries that will explore his life, his legacy as a television icon and his trial and experience in prison, the outlet reported.
Interviews with many of his family and friends have already been conducted, according to TMZ, and following his release from State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on June 30, the iconic yet disgraced entertainer will soon record his segments.
TMZ is reporting that in addition to comedy clubs across the nation, Cosby will also make appearances at prisons and schools to talk to people about “being better citizens and curbing violence.”
Wyatt told the gossip site that the comedian was inspired by the stories he heard while spending the last three years in prison for decades-old sexual assault charges. He is also reportedly working on a book.
The creator of the legendary Black sitcoms The Cosby Show and A Different World, Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison in 2018 after being found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. He served nearly three years before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s conviction, ruling that a “non-prosecution agreement” with then-Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor meant he should not have been charged.
After part of the deposition in the Constand case was made public, dozens came forward with similar drugging-then-sexual-assault accusations against Cosby — 60 women in total, famed model Beverly Johnson and actresses Michelle Hurd and Lili Bernard among them.
Since his prison release late last month, Cosby has continued to make headlines. He released a statement on Twitter, saying, “I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence,. Thank you to all my fans, supporters, and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law.”
Additionally, Cosby tweeted his support of former Cosby Show co-star Phylicia Rashad, who showed her joy at his release on Twitter, where she wrote, “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted – a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” The post was accompanied by a photo of Cosby holding up his fist.
The viral tweet earned the actress and newly-named dean of the Howard University College of Fine Arts significant backlash.
Cosby pushed back, tweeting, “Howard University you must support ones Freedom of Speech (Ms. Rashad), which is taught or suppose to be taught everyday at that renowned law school, which resides on your campus.”
His Twitter message was posted on the Fourth of July, when Cosby also wrote, “This (sic) mainstream media are the Insurrectionists, who stormed the Capitol. Those same Media Insurrectionists are trying to demolish the Constitution of these United State of America on this Independence Day.”
Rashad later issued a statement in which she offered support to victims of sexual assault. She will reportedly undergo sensitivity training from the HBCU.
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