Despite serving a prison sentence for sexual assault, Bill Cosby stays active on social media. On Sunday, he posted a Father’s Day message on Twitter that social media users said fell flat.
“Hey, Hey, Hey...It’s America’s Dad…,” the disgraced actor tweeted on Sunday. “I know it’s late, but to all of the Dads... It’s an honor to be called a Father, so let’s make today a renewed oath to fulfilling our purpose —strengthening our families and communities.”
The message included the hashtags #HappyFathersDay and #RenewedOathToOurFamily, and was posted alongside an old video of Cosby discussing racism.
Cosby, 81, requested the message be posted for Father’s Day, Andrew Wyatt, his spokesperson, told USA Today.
Wyatt said Cosby’s message "consisted of telling these men who have been incarcerated for many years, but are up for parole soon ... to ... take the word 'disadvantage' and remove the 'dis,' and start focusing on the advantage."
Before more than 50 women accused Cosby of abuse, the actor and comedian, once dubbed "America's Dad," was known for promoting family values.
Cosby is now in prison in Pennsylvania for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004, who was Temple University women's basketball administrator at the time. Cosby's first trial ended in a mistrial in 2017, but the actor was later convicted in 2018 and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.
Cosby's tweet drew quick ire from users on social media, who found the message to be bizarre and inappropriate.
“Bill Cosby has three and a half million followers?” one user wrote. “You people should be ashamed of yourselves!”
Earlier this year, state prison officials said Cosby was moved to a general population unit after spending four months in special housing as he acclimated to prison. Representatives for Cosby have contradicted this statement, saying he is in veteran's facility with other "elderly inmates."
NBC News reached out to Bill Cosby's representatives for comment.
