Bob Saget counts Bill Cosby as an early and influential mentor, but he admits Cosby's legacy has been forever damaged by the "despicable" acts of sexual assault that more than 50 women have claimed he perpetrated.
During a conversation with HuffPost Live about his role in the Broadway show "Hand to God," Saget -- who attended Temple University, as did Cosby -- said that "any human being that does things that are despicable to other human beings will be slightly tarnished by history."
"I went to Temple University and he was a mentor of mine, and I was on 'The Tonight Show' [with Cosby] two weeks before Johnny Carson went off, and it's very sad," Saget said. "I think the answer is obvious -- that the man has been tarnished -- and it's just sad for all of the people involved."
Saget's "Hand to God" co-star Steven Boyer added that he sees Cosby's comedy differently since so many women have told their stories of allegedly being drugged and abused by the "Cosby Show" star.
"I loved Bill Cosby growing up. I mean, who didn't? But now I'm finding it really, really hard to separate what he has done -- it's hard to separate that from his work for me," Boyer said.
Saget concluded by saying that even while he recognizes Cosby's influence on comedy, the allegations of rape have become an unavoidable dark cloud over his achievements.
"I had respect for Cosby because he changed stand-up comedy, and he was amazing on 'I Spy' years ago. So you do find out the people you look up to -- unfortunately, they're down off their throne when things like this happen," Saget said.
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