Keshia Knight Pulliam: Cosby Show legacy remains strong

Christopher Rosen
Updated
Keshia Knight Pulliam on 'Cosby Show' legacy: 'It's going to be difficult to take back those memories'

Former Cosby Show star Keshia Knight Pulliam said the legacy of the popular ’80s sitcom is still strong despite the many sexual assault allegations levied against Bill Cosby.

“I can say that, based upon the people that continuously approach me and talk about how it’s profoundly impacted their lives, I don’t feel you can take that back,” Pulliam said to The Grio about The Cosby Show. “You can’t take back the impact that it’s had on generations of kids, and it’s continuing to have such a positive impact on them. So I feel like the place that it has in people’s hearts is such a nostalgic part of childhood and beyond, it’s going to be difficult to take back those memories.”

Asked about how she views Cosby in the wake of more than 50 women coming forward with claims that the 78-year-old sexually assaulted them in the past, Pulliam told The Grio, “that’s just not the man I know.”

“That’s not who I experienced,” Pulliam, who played Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show, added. “I never had that interaction with him, so I can’t speak to it.”

Back in January, Pulliam made similar comments about Cosby in an interview with the TODAY show.

“All I can speak to is the man that I know and I love. The fact that he’s been such an example, you can’t take away from the great that he has done,” she said at the time. “You know, the amount, the millions and millions of dollars that he has given back to colleges and education, and just what he did with The Cosby Show and how groundbreaking that was … Ultimately, they’re just that, allegations. You know, it’s very much been played out in the court of public opinion. But we’re still in America, where ultimately you’re innocent until proven guilty. I wasn’t there. That’s just not the man I know. So I can’t speak to it.”

On Tuesday, Chloe Goins, who accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her, filed a lawsuit against the comedian for damages stemming from the alleged attack. Cosby is slated to give a sworn deposition for the case on Friday. He has never been charged with a crime.