Bill Cosby Says His Trial Was a ‘Setup’ in First Prison Interview

Bill Cosby in Court (Credit: YouTube)

Bill Cosby is speaking out publicly for the first time since he was sentenced to prison in September 2018 for sexual assault.

In an interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com, the comedian railed against the case that led to his incarceration.

“It’s all a setup,” the comedian said. “This is political. I can see the whole thing.”

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The Cosby Show star was sentenced to three to 10 years for drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home in 2004. He said he expects to serve the full sentence.

“I have eight years and nine months left,” Cosby said, adding that he feels no remorse.

“When I come up for parole, they’re not going to hear me say that I have remorse. I was there. I don’t care what group of people come along and talk about this when they weren’t there. They don’t know,” he stated.

Legal experts say sex offenders must usually show remorse to be considered for parole, according to The Associated Press.

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The 82-year-old star is serving his sentence at SCI-Phoenix, a maximum-security penitentiary near Philadelphia. He said he is in good spirits and referred to his prison cell as “my penthouse.”

Cosby mentors other inmates through a prison reform program called Mann Up, although he is not formally associated with the group.

“I don’t belong to the Mann Up Association, but it’s a privilege to come in and speak,” the comedian explained.

BlackPressUSA said the program “serves to encourage and empower African American men to strive for self-respect and dignity and to put their family first.”

The reporter on the story interviewed inmates who’ve heard Cosby speak.

“Mr. Cosby comes into the room with his fist in the air and all of these men rise up and applaud him,” said Tyree Wallace, who has served more than two decades in prison.

“He gives us so much wisdom and the Mann Up program is the perfect vehicle,” Wallace added. “He told us a story about his mother, and how she would have him clean the hallways after guys would go and urinate. He said he’d ask her why he had to clean it, and she told him that you have to clean where you live.”