2021 Year in Review: The Controversy of Cosby’s Conviction Being Overturned

Whether penciled in history books for reasons good, bad, ugly, and/or everything in between, 2020 brought with it some of entertainment’s most memorable moments.

Now, as the year draws to a close, we are reflecting on our favorite moments that rocked – and to some degree maybe even reshaped – the Urban and Pop cultural landscape as we know it.

Next, we look back on the surprise overturn of the sexual assault conviction that landed embattled entertainment legend Bill Cosby behind bars.

Bill Cosby’s Prison Mugshot & More Released

As reported above, the EMMY and GRAMMY-winning icon was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in a state prison in 2018 for reportedly drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004.

Less than 3 years into serving said sentence, the world was stunned to learn he was freed on a technicality of his “due process rights” being violated.

Bill Cosby Issues Statement After Prison Release: “I Have Always Maintained My Innocence”

And while his release from prison as a result caused quite the division among supporters of the #MeToo movement, staunch critics, and his fans, others – particularly his former ‘Cosby Show’ co-star Phylicia Rashad – felt the brunt of publicly supporting his freedom.

Phylicia Rashad Under Fire for Celebrating Bill Cosby’s Prison Release

Bill Cosby To Howard University Amid Phylicia Rashad Backlash: ‘Support Her Freedom of Speech’

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The 84-year-old star may have announced plans to launch a comedy tour shortly after his exit from imprisonment (as we reported here), but those plans have reportedly been shelved in part to his advanced age, the global health crisis, and impending legal woes.

In late November, prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to reverse Pennsylvania’s decision to overturn the comedian’s prison sentence. If said prosecutors have their way, Cosby could be back behind bars before the end of 2022.

[main photo source: Matt Rourke/AP]