Bill Cosby slammed for calling himself 'America's Dad' in bizarre Father's Day message
A bizarre video appeared on the social media accounts of disgraced actor and comedian Bill Cosby on Father's Day, and most people do not know what to make of it.
A questionably jovial tweet posted on his Twitter account on Sunday, June 16, read, "Hey, Hey, Hey... It’s America’s Dad... I know it’s late, but to all of the Dads... It’s an honor to be called a Father, so let’s make today a renewed oath to fulfilling our purpose—strengthening our families and communities."
The tweet was accompanied by an equally bizarre video that featured a snippet from CBS' 1968 news special, 'Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed,' where a then 31-year-old Cosby spoke about the cultural impact of racism and slavery on the Black community.
"America invented the cruelest slavery in the history of the world because it broke up black families," he says in the video. "After slavery was over, America kept breaking up the black man's family and that's some awful history to teach."
"Now this country has a psychological history," he says at the end of the video, before walking over to a table full of fourth-grade students who are going about doodling on their artwork.
A separate tweet read "#HappyFathersDay #RenewedOathToOurFamily #RenewedOathToOurCommunity #AmericasFavoriteDad #FarFromFinished"
Cosby, 81, is currently serving a 3- to 10-year sentence at the State Correctional Institution in Phoenix, Pennsylvania, and is classified as a sexually violent predator following a guilty verdict on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in September 2018.
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesperson, told USA Today that the Father's Day message was posted on the social media accounts after a request from the actor who wanted to give a shout out to a group called 'Man Up.'
"Mr. Cosby’s (message) consisted of telling these men who have been incarcerated for many years, but are up for parole soon...to...take the word 'disadvantage' and remove the 'dis,' and start focusing on the advantage," Wyatt said. "That advantage is to be better fathers and productive citizens."
Cosby, who was once considered 'America's Dad' as was mentioned in the tweet, has seen his reputation and standing amongst the American populace severely tarnished during the mid-2010s as several women came out with sexual assault allegations against the star.
By the time Cosby went to a jury trial over the accusations made by Andrea Constand, more than 60 women had accused him of either attempted assault, rape, drug-facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct, some of which dated back several decades.
The Daily Mail reported that Cosby, who despite being legally blind and moving from administrative segregation to the general population, is in good spirits behind bars.
