Kanye West on Tuesday mentioned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault scandal in a vague tweet that prompted immediate backlash from social media users.
“BILL COSBY INNOCENT !!!!!!!!!!” the rapper wrote on Twitter. It’s unclear whether West was defending the embattled comedian, who is accused of sexual assault and whose reputation has been tarnished after dozens of women claimed he drugged and sexually assaulted them.
Many of his fans took the tweet to mean West was supporting Cosby. “You have a daughter. Be better,” one person wrote to him. “Kanye please don’t do this,” another wrote.
West called out Cosby in a song released New Year’s Eve, according to US Weekly. “Do anybody feel bad for Bill Cosby? Did he forget names just like Steve Harvey?” he raps in the song called “Facts.”
The 78-year-old comedian was arrested in December and charged with aggravated indecent assault over the alleged drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand, prosecutors said. The Hollywood scandal has led to several universities and celebrity supporters cutting ties with Cosby, who was once known as “America’s Dad.”