BACKTRACKING

Phylicia Rashad Pens Groveling Letter to Howard Students After Terrible Cosby Tweet

“I vehemently oppose sexual violence... and I know that Howard University has a zero-tolerance policy toward interpersonal violence,” she wrote.

After posting a severely out-of-touch tweet celebrating the release of Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad has backtracked in a letter to Howard University students. Rashad, who played Cosby’s TV wife and was recently made a Howard dean, wrote: “My remarks were in no way directed towards survivors of sexual assault. I vehemently oppose sexual violence, find no excuse for such behavior, and I know that Howard University has a zero-tolerance policy toward interpersonal violence.” Enraged students and alums, many of whom are survivors of sexual assault, had told The Daily Beast that they wanted Rashad gone.

Rashad said she had deleted the tweet and would spend the next few weeks engaging in “active listening” and training sessions “to learn how I can become a stronger ally to sexual assault survivors.”