Akon defends 'hero' Bill Cosby over sex abuse conviction

Singer Akon has spoken out in defence of convicted sex offender and one-time American icon Bill Cosby.

The Dangerous singer was asked by TMZ what he thought about Cosby’s recent court case and possible sentencing – and his words certainly raised some eyebrows.

Akon, real name Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam, 45, said he was unsure what a ‘fair’ sentence would be for the crime he was found guilty of by a jury.

To recap, Cosby, 80, was found guilty last month of sexual assault, whereby he was accused of drugging and raping Andrea Constand back in 2004. The TV star faces spending the rest of his life behind bars for the crime he was convicted of by a jury of seven men and five women.

‘I don’t know the extent of all the facts,’ the rapper said to them. ‘You don’t really know if he did it.’

When reminded (on camera) that Cosby had been convicted of the crime, Akon still didn’t appear convinced and seemed to defend him: ‘A lot of people been convicted who are innocent. In situations like this, I don’t know.

‘I’ve already been painted a picture of Bill Crosby, he’s a hero to me.’

‘It’s hard to flip that around,’ he said, when trying to think of Cosby as anything other than an icon to him.

But it didn’t seem like the rapper knew all the details of the case, citing historical accusations – despite this trial being about an incident from 14 years ago.

In an attempt to justify his doubt, he added: ‘I wasn’t there at the trial, whatever was revealed – these allegations from 30/40 years ago.’

Despite a jury conviction and legal prosecution, Akon then said he was a believer in truth and facts: ‘The truth is always a great thing to me.’

‘I think karma does a lot and karma makes no mistakes – if the law doesn’t catch you, karma will eventually,’ he concluded.

The singer recently explained his reasons for calling Donald Trump ‘courageous’ and how he feels he might’ve been wrong to do so. Something tells us he may also end up regretting these comments, especially in the wake of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.

Bill Cosby will be sentenced in July, as he faces up to 10 years on each count.

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