’90s sitcom star Jaleel White reflected on “cancel culture” and the impact Bill Cosby made on his career, despite Cosby’s behavior that sent him to prison.
Jaleel, 44, described Mr. Cosby as a mentor to former child stars like himself whose lives were positively affected by the legendary actor.
“I don’t have a dog in the fight at all when it comes to Mr. Cosby,” Jaleel told “Daily Blast Live” co-hosts Jeff Schroeder, Al Jackson and Sam Schacher.
The “Family Matters” star says he doesn’t condone the actions that led Bill Cosby to prison, but he does acknowledge the impact Cosby made on his career when he was young.
“I will say that when I was young, he was a mentor to me, and he had a very big impact on my representation at a particular point in my life. So, it’s tough for people like myself, like Raven-Symoné, or the children who grew up on that show [‘The Cosby Show’] who are now full grown adults, Keshia [Knight Pulliam], Malcolm [Malcolm-Jamal Warner], and even myself who, our childhoods were affected by this man.”
“Cancel culture says ‘you will not talk about him, you will not address him, you will not even discuss the impact that he had on you,'” said Jaleel, pictured with his 12-year-old daughter, Samaya White.
“That’s not fair to us at all. That’s not fair to the legacies that we have. I always just like to put it in a proper context, when I talk about Mr. Cosby, I am not condoning his actions at all, but there are other stories to be told about how Mr. Cosby affected a lot of people’s lives.”
Watch the interview below:
