Raven-Symone has denied that her former TV co-star Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her during filming of The Cosby Show when she was a young child, blasting the rumours as “disgusting.”
Reports emerged this week that Raven-Symone, 28, had become the latest woman to accuse Cosby, 77, of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s while she played his character's step-granddaughter, Olivia, on the hit NBC series, however, the furious actress has blasted these rumours with a rant posted on her Instagram page. "I was NOT taking advantage of by Mr. Cosby when I was on the Cosby Show! I was practically a baby on that show and this is truly a disgusting rumor that I want no part of! Everyone on that show treated me with nothing but kindness. Now keep me out of this!” Raven-Symone wrote alongside a photo of herself in character as Olivia.
Raven-Symone played Bill Cosby's step-granddaughter on The Cosby Show (NBC)
Raven-Symone has become one of the first people to publicly defend Cosby since the rape allegations resurfaced in October. The That's So Raven actress was just four-years-old when she joined the show in 1989 and appeared as a regular until it came to an end in 1992. Raven-Symone has always spoken highly of her former TV dad and told The Huffington Post in 2011 that she “loved working with Bill Cosby,” just a few weeks before she was to reunite with her Cosby Show co-stars at an awards ceremony.
In 2005, 13 women came forward to accuse Cosby of sexually assaulting them almost 30 years ago and some of his alleged victims have now reappeared to bring their claims to light once again, including Barbara Bowman and supermodel Janice Dickinson, both of whom have given interviews.
Raven-Symone has denied being sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby (AdMedia / Splash News)
Along with Raven-Symone, The View host Whoopi Goldberg also gave Cosby the benefit of the doubt this week when sharing her thoughts on the scandal in an episode of the talk show, explaining: "Perhaps the police might have believed it. Or the hospital. Don't you do a kit when you say someone has raped you? Isn't that the next step once you make an allegation? Don't the cops take you into a hospital for a kit?” before adding that she had “a lot of questions” so has chosen to “reserve… judgement.”
Cosby, whose two upcoming TV shows have now been cancelled by Netflix and NBC, has strenuously denied the allegations.
