In the wake of unearthed footage that shows Bill Cosby admitting that he used drugs to rape women, there has been additional fallout for the former star. The Cosby Show was finally pulled from smaller networks, including Bounce and Centric, and Disney removed a bronze statue of him from its Hollywood Studios theme park. However, the Smithsonian is standing behind its use of art donated by Cosby in its exhibit, reports Page Six.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art is currently hosting an exhibit of African and African-American art that utilizes pieces from Cosby's personal collection. In a statement, the museum acknowledges Cosby's crimes and writes, "The museum in no way condones this behavior." It also argues that with the lack of attention given to African art, it would be a shame to remove pieces that rarely get a chance to be seen by the public. "[The exhibition] is fundamentally about the artworks and the artists who created them, not the owners of the collection," the statement reads.
While almost everyone has been distancing themselves from Cosby, the Smithsonian, along with Raven Symone and Whoopi Goldberg, are sticking with the accused rapist in their own ways.
