Camille Cosby Compares Husband to Emmett Till and Blames Media

Camille Cosby, the wife of the disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, disparaged the media, Mr. Cosby’s accusers and his prosecutors in a caustic statement released Thursday, her first public comments since Mr. Cosby was convicted of sexual assault last week. She called for a criminal investigation of the Montgomery County district attorney and repeatedly suggested that Mr. Cosby was targeted because of his race.

In a three-page release, Mrs. Cosby explicitly blamed the media for Mr. Cosby’s fate in court, citing what she called a “frenzied, relentless demonization of him and unquestioning acceptance of accusers’ allegations without any attendant proof.” She went on to say, “Bill Cosby was labeled as guilty because the media and accusers said so.”

Once again, Mr. Cosby was compared to Emmett Till, a black 14-year-old who was lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of leering at a white woman. Last week, Mr. Cosby’s publicist, Ebonee Benson, went on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and likened Mr. Cosby to Till.

This time, it was Mrs. Cosby.

“Since when are all accusers truthful? History disproves that,” she said in her statement, adding, “Emmett Till’s accuser immediately comes to mind.” Mrs. Cosby also cited Darryl Hunt, an African-American who wrongfully served 19 years in prison after being convicted of a 1984 murder. He was released in 2004, years after DNA evidence cleared him of the crime.

She also accused Andrea Constand, whose sexual assault complaint led to the conviction, of perjury, saying that her testimony was filled with “innumerable, dishonest contradictions.”

A lawyer for Ms. Constand, Dolores M. Troiani, said in a statement, “Twelve honorable people — a jury of Cosby’s peers — have spoken. There’s nothing else to say.”

Mrs. Cosby saved her angriest barbs for the Montgomery County district attorney’s office of Kevin R. Steele.

“I am publicly asking for a criminal investigation of that district attorney and his cohorts,” Mrs. Cosby said. “This is a homogeneous group of exploitive and corrupt people, whose primary purpose is to advance themselves professionally and economically at the expense of Mr. Cosby’s life. If they can do this to Mr. Cosby, they can do so to anyone.”

The district attorney’s office declined to comment. But reaction was swift on social media, where most commenters took issue with the comparison with Till’s killing.

This wasn’t the first time Mrs. Cosby issued such a statement, nor was it the first time she expressed her longstanding belief that the media treats African-Americans unfairly.

After Mr. Cosby’s first criminal case ended in a mistrial last June, she said, “How do I describe the District Attorney? Heinously and exploitively ambitious. How do I describe the judge? Overtly and arrogantly collaborating with the District Attorney. How do I describe the counsels for the accusers? Totally unethical.”

Mr. Cosby, who was convicted of three felonies, faces up to 10 years for each count, but his lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict. He is currently free on bail awaiting sentencing.

His public downfall, however, continues. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday that it had expelled Mr. Cosby, as well as the director Roman Polanski, who fled the United States in 1978 while awaiting sentencing for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.

Yale University announced on Wednesday that it would revoke the honorary degree that Mr. Cosby received in 2003. It was the first time in Yale’s history it had done so.

A number of other institutions have done likewise, including, on Thursday, the State University of New York, which revoked an honorary doctorate Mr. Cosby received in 2000 from SUNY’s Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. The university system also took back an honorary degree from the conductor James Levine, who was fired by the Metropolitan Opera this year following reports of sexual abuse and harassment.