Former 'Cosby Show’ actor Joseph C. Phillips: ‘Of course Bill Cosby is guilty’

Former Cosby Show actor Joseph C. Phillips posted a lengthy missive titled "Of Course Bill Cosby Is Guilty!" this week in which he declares that the embattled comedian is likely guilty of the rape allegations against him.

Phillips, who played Cosby's son-in-law Lt. Martin Kendall on the show and is now a conservative Christian commentor, writes in the piece that he idolized Cosby as a child:

"He was my boyhood idol. His influence on my life has been profound. I owe much of who I am to Bill Cosby, so the idea of love seems to fall short of exactly how I feel," begins the post. "The Cos was a ladies man, but also good father and husband — devoted to his wife and children. Bill was educated; he collected art and was fluent in jazz. After my father, Bill Cosby was the man I aspired to be. Few get an opportunity to meet their idol, much less work with them. I was blessed in that regard, and even more blessed that I found my idol as clever, kind and brilliant as I had imagined."

But upon joining the Cosby Show cast, it became clear to Phillips that "Bill played around" and that it was "common knowledge," which altered his perception of the comedian:

"When I say common knowledge, I mean that it was just something that people seemed to know without anyone saying anything. Bill sleeping around was a fact that, like, the air, seemed to just be. You didn't have to see it or hear it to know that it existed. ... There was also the seeming unending parade of pretty young women that streamed through the studio."

Ultimately, though, Phillips writes that he only became "increasingly disturbed" with Cosby after an unidentified "old friend" and former Cosby mentee told him that the comedian had "[violated] both her trust and her body" in a past incident:

As I drove home, I battled my emotions. I felt for my friend, for the violation of her trust, loyalty, and body. I was angry with Bill. He had money, fame, and power; he was a walking aphrodisiac! Why? I was also angry at myself for falling for the okey-doke, of putting Bill on a pedestal. Something changed inside me during that drive; call it the last gasp of a mocking bird.

However, despite that revelation, Phillips nonetheless ends his blog centering on the notion that Cosby's legacy — the "good Bill" — can be separated from his alleged sexual misconduct. To do so, Phillips implores Cosby to "go live a quiet country life":

It is with all of the love I still have for him and the reverence of one who has idolized him for a lifetime that I offer this plea. Bill, you have a family who loves you, a wife who is devoted to you; you have more money than you can spend. Please, go live a quiet country life. Allow those of us who truly love you to preserve just a bit of our enchantment."

Phillips' blog comes just a week after a judge unsealed 2005 court documents in which Cosby admitted to having purchased Quaaludes for sex. To date, Cosby has not been charged in connection with the dozens of sexual assault allegations against him.

Read Phillips' full blog post here.