Malcolm-Jamal Warner slams coverage of Bill Cosby as "unbalanced"
Former "The Cosby Show" star Malcolm-Jamal Warner is feeling the pinch as the sexual abuse scandal surrounding former boss Bill Cosby continues.
Warner is particularly unnerved about reruns of his sitcom being pulled from network line-ups as a response to mounting allegations against Cosby of sexual assault.
"Because the show was taken off the air, it's literally taking money out of my pocket," Warner says during an interview with the ladies of "The Real" that aired Monday. "So I got my own personal feelings about that, because it personally affects me."
Warner's complaints aren't only personal, though. He also takes issue with what he sees as a double standard in how Cosby's situation has been handled. "You just look at how the media is playing this whole thing out," he said. "I can't help but think about Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Stephen Collins ... it's very clear, you know, the crimes they've committed."
"There's no one that has been calling for Woody's movies to be pulled off the air," Warner said. "Roman Polanski is still celebrated. Stephen Collins' show still comes on. So it's just interesting how it's very unbalanced. They were trying to take Mr. Cosby's star off the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And I am in no position to defend him because I can't. But nor will I throw him under the bus."
As word of Warner's comments got out, "Trainwreck" director and noted Cosby critic Judd Apatow couldn't help weighing in. "If I lost all my hard-earned royalties because my boss raped a lot of people I would be slightly irritated at him," Apatow tweeted.