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Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Posthumous Interview Details Cosby’s Control Over The Cosby Show

An HBO documentary captures him recalling an audition correction that set the series’ boundaries.

Overview

  • The two-part HBO film Seen & Heard, executive produced by Issa Rae, premiered Sept. 9 and 10 and examines the past, present, and future of Black television.
  • In the documentary, Warner says Bill Cosby questioned whether he would really speak to his father that way after his audition, steering him away from a smart-aleck tone.
  • Warner recounts Cosby repeatedly fending off notes from network and studio creatives to preserve his vision throughout the show’s eight-season run.
  • The coverage notes Cosby’s legacy as complicated due to decades of sexual misconduct allegations, a 2018 conviction, and his 2021 release after the ruling was overturned.
  • Warner, 54, died in an accidental drowning on July 20 in Costa Rica, and Seen & Heard is one of his final on-camera appearances, with another slated to air Oct. 7 on Fox.