"Forget these women," Rashad told Showbiz 411. "What you're seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it's orchestrated. I don't know why or who's doing it, but it's the legacy. And it's a legacy that is so important to the culture."
The 66-year-old actress, who portrayed flinty lawyer and mom Clair Huxtable on the show for eight years, was firm in her defense of her former co-star, telling Showbiz reporter Roger Friedman, "I love him."
At least 15 women have come forward since November to claim that Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago.
Former supermodels Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson were among the accusers who said he legendary comedian fed them drug-laced cocktails and then raped them while they were blacked out.
Asked about those two, Rashad appeared indignant.
"Oh, please," she told the site.
"Someone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV," she added. "And it's worked. All his contracts have been cancelled."Rashad, who also played Cosby's wife on his self-titled CBS series, is the second former co-star to come to Cosby's defense since the once-dormant assault accusations began bubbling up late last year.
Keshia Knight Pulliam, who played Cosby tyke Rudy, also said she was standing behind her onetime TV dad, saying his accusers' claims didn't square with "the man I grew up knowing."
"None of us were there; there are two sides to a story, and we are in America, and it is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," she told talk show host Wendy Williams Monday.
Pulliam's comments were prompted by her appearance on the reality competition show "Celebrity Apprentice," which was shot several months before the scandal broke.
In Sunday's episode, Donald Trump fired the 35-year-old Pulliam from the show because she refused to call Cosby for a charitable donation during a fundraising competition.
"Cosby Show" actresses Raven-Symone and Lisa Bonet were also forced to clear the air after bogus reports drew them into the fray, though neither addressed the accusations directly.
Rashad, meanwhile, finally broke her silence while attending a lunch for the movie "Selma" at the Metropolitan Club on Fifth Ave, Showbiz 411 reported.Speaking about Cosby's wife, Camille, she sounded like she could have been talking about her onetime TV alter ego.
"This is a tough woman, a smart woman,"Rashad said. "She's no pushover."
She suggested that Cosby was "too proud" to defend himself, although his lawyer, Martin Singer, has categorically denied all the claims.
Cosby, meanwhile, is currently on tour and was set to perform three shows in Ontario, Canada, this week.
The promoters of the shows said they would go on, despite threats of protests and statement from the Canadian Prime Minister calling the allegations "very serious and deeply troubling."
