Jasmine Guy is reflecting on Bill Cosby’s conviction of aggravated indecent assault and how she had a hard time believing the allegations when they first came to light.
“I couldn’t really put the two images together,” the “A Different World” actress told Page Six. “It’s heartbreaking for those of us in the business that admire him, his talent and his mind — and then as a Black person it’s heartbreaking because he meant a lot to the community.”
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Cosby had accusations brought against him for years but it wasn’t until he was convicted in 2018 that his accusers found justice. Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison but was freed in 2021 on a technicality, serving just over two years.
“Cosby Show” actress Lili Bernard has since sued Cosby for sexual assault over a 1990 hotel room encounter in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Guy went to male friends in an attempt to understand Cosby’s actions.
“Just to [try to] understand the mentality, which is still baffling,” she said. “I asked practical questions like, ‘What pleasure do you get out of being with someone who’s kind of out of it?’”
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“I don’t expect people to be perfect and I don’t expect human beings not to falter,” Guy added. “I just didn’t understand. I don’t know, there was a meanness behind it that I couldn’t understand.”
Guy said that since “Cosby Show” and her spinoff “A Different World” were filmed on opposite coasts, they only crossed paths a few times.