Bill Cosby's Daughter Defends Him In Facebook Post

On Wednesday morning, amid a major scandal that's been going on for years, former television star and comedian Bill Cosby tweeted about his ongoing sexual assault case, linking to a Facebook post by his daughter Evin defending him over the dozens of allegations. Cosby, for the record, has denied all the allegations against him. It's not the first time Cosby ― or whoever runs his social media presence ― has tweeted about the case, with multiple examples in recent months.

It's not the first time that Evin has leapt to her father's defense, either: Back in 2014, she wrote a Facebook post insisting that Cosby "is the FATHER you though you knew," and impugning his many accusers, attacking their credibility and suggesting they should go to prison for making false allegations.

The statement she put out this time is a good deal more polished than the one she released three years ago, and it focuses on building up her father's image. "He loves and respects women," she said. "He is not abusive, violent or a rapist." She also commented on "the harsh and hurtful accusations of things that supposedly happened 40 or 50 years ago," which is not strictly true ― the myriad allegations against her father span the decades, with the most recent one dating back to just nine years ago.

Cosby's attorneys have fought long and hard to try to shield him from any legal harm. His team won a victory in February, with the throwing out of a defamation lawsuit against him, although the trial is still very much moving forward.

Despite the fact that the current case is being brought by just one of Cosby's accusers, former Temple University employee Andrea Constand, he's been publicly accused of a similar pattern of drugging and sexual assaults by more than 50 different women. For the vast majority of the women, pursuing legal action is an impossibility due to statutes of limitations regarding such crimes.

Cosby, for his part, says he wants to return to stand-up comedy after his trial is over; that assumes he won't be convicted, and that even if he were acquitted, the public would be willing to overlook the dozens of accusations that never made it to a court of law. Gloria Allred, a high-profile attorney who represents some of Cosby's many accusers, responded to Cosby's recent interview, accusing he and his team of mounting a "Hollywood public relations campaign" to deflect from the many dire allegations against him.

I expect Mr. Cosby and members of his family to continue to speak out in an attempt to portray him as a victim rather than as an alleged sexual predator. However, the jury must decide this case based on the evidence admitted in the court room instead of what they see or hear as part of a slick Hollywood public relations campaign.

Jury selection for the trial is currently set for May 22, and the start of the trial is scheduled for June.