Bill Cosby was released from prison on Wednesday after his conviction on sexual assault charges was overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court. The 83-year-old was sentenced in September 2018 to three to 10 years in prison on three counts of aggravated assault for drugging and sexually assaulting former basketball player, Andrea Constand, in his home in 2004.
The comedian and actor had served more than two years of his sentence when the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that he had been denied a fair trial in 2018.
Before the allegation of sexual assault surfaced, he was making millions through syndication for reruns of The Cosby Show, specials, various TV deals he was working on, appearances, and touring, according to Forbes.
However, Cosby took a heavy financial hit as a result of the sexual allegations and trial, losing millions from earnings from his once-lucrative career. According to Forbes, The Cosby Show was dropped by BET and TV Land. Also, a planned Netflix special, Bill Cosby 77, was indefinitely postponed. An NBC family sitcom that was in development with Cosby as both producer and star was also terminated. NBC had made a seven-figure deal with Cosby without even seeing a script, Forbes said, adding that “Cosby’s deal with NBC for the proposed show included a penalty fee awarding him more than $1 million should nothing materialize.”
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Bill Cosby is worth $400 million. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid television actor in the world with a base salary of $1 million per episode for starring in The Bill Cosby Show.
However, when his producing, creating, syndication and various other income streams were totaled, he earned $4 million per episode, according to Celebrity Net Worth, which is the same as earning $8 million per episode today.
Cosby was born to Anna Pearl and William Henry Cosby Sr, on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia on July 12, 1937. He is one of the four children of his parents. He attended Germantown High School but failed out of tenth grade and later joined the Navy and worked as a physical therapy with Navy and Marine Corps who had been injured during the Korean War.
Despite dropping out in tenth grade, Cosby returned to school and earned a diploma, and went on to earn a doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
He started his stand-up act in the clubs of Philadelphia and then in NYC at The Gaslight Cafe in 1961. In the 1980s, Cosby launched one of the most successful sitcoms of all time called The Cosby Show. Prior to that, he pursued a variety of other television projects. He was a regular guest host for The Tonight Show, and hosted and starred on an annual special for NBC.
Cosby is married to Camille and together, they have five children.
