Bill Cosby Volume 1: Malcolm-Jamal Warner opens up about Cosby allegations while 'Dateline NBC' gathers Bill Cosby accusers for special

Actor and musician Malcolm-Jamal Warner poses for a portrait Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. Warner, who won his first Grammy earlier this year for his work on Robert Glasper's “Jesus Children,” is currently promoting his new album, “Selfless.” He describes the third record with his band Miles Long as “funky passionate vulnerability.” (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP) 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "The Cosby Show" alum Malcolm-Jamal Warner says the series' legacy is "tarnished" by the sexual assault allegations made against Bill Cosby.

"My biggest concern is when it comes to images of people of color on television and film, no matter what ... negative stereotypes of people of color, we've always had 'The Cosby Show' to hold up against that. And the fact that we no longer have that, that's the thing that saddens me the most because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale," said Warner, who starred as Cosby's son, Theo Huxtable, on the long-running NBC sitcom.

Warner said he has been in touch with Cosby, but he would not comment on their conversations.

"I think the things that we discussed really have to stay private between us. But it's just a bad situation all around — for him, for his family, the women, their families, the legacy of the show," said Warner during an interview Thursday.

Cosby admitted having extramarital relationships with several women, including some who now accuse him of sexual assault. He has never been charged with a crime.

Warner, who won his first Grammy earlier this year for his work on Robert Glasper's "Jesus Children," is currently promoting his new album, "Selfless," out now.

He describes the third record with his band Miles Long as "funky passionate vulnerability."

Warner is also filming "American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson," directed by Ryan Murphy. He plays Simpson's friend Al "A.C." Cowlings.

"I grew up with a maniacal obsession with not wanting to be one of those 'Where Are They Now Kids,' " said Warner of his busy year. "I feel very blessed to be able to have all of these avenues of expression ... to be where I am now and finally at a place where I can let go of that worry about having a life after 'Cosby.' "

'Dateline NBC' gathers Bill Cosby accusers for special

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News correspondent Kate Snow says that bringing 29 women who have accused Bill Cosby of assault together for a "Dateline NBC" special Friday took on an importance beyond the individual cases.
Snow said that many of the women who participated sensed an opportunity to educate others about the need to talk forthrightly about sexual assault.
"That was important, not just in the context of Bill Cosby but for every woman, every American," she said.
The NBC broadcast was timed to coincide with Cosby's scheduled deposition Friday in the case of a woman who accused Cosby of molesting her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 15. NBC also was inspired by a New York magazine cover story this summer that gathered many of Cosby's accusers together for a photograph, although Snow said the network had begun working to gather the interviews before that.
Snow said all of the women who have publicly accused Cosby were asked to participate in the interview, which was recorded in Los Angeles in late August. Twenty-seven women agreed. Snow said she interviewed four other women involved anonymously in a 2005 case against Cosby, and two of them subsequently said they would join the other women on camera.
The interview took five hours, and NBC's team had to edit it down to a one-hour special that airs at 9 p.m. EDT and PDT.
Some of the women hadn't discussed their cases before in such a public forum, Snow said. The special includes no women who had not previously made allegations against Cosby.
"They didn't know each other before, and now they are sitting in a room talking about intimate personal details about the allegations," she said. "They say there is a power in that."
While it's a challenge to interview so many people at the same time, Snow tried to use the sheer numbers to connect dots between their allegations. She asked the women for a show of hands on how many believed Cosby had raped them, had sexually assaulted them and had drugged them.
She also asked how many had reported their allegations to police at the time, or had asked for an examination with a rape kit following the encounters. No women raised their hands to that question, she said.
"I believe it's healing and it's cathartic to be able to talk to each other, to look around and be together," said one woman, Sunni Welles.
Snow said there were several attempts to get Cosby or his representatives to appear on "The Cosby Accusers Speak," to be broadcast on the network where the comic had his greatest success during the 1980s. They were all declined. A Cosby representative, Monique Pressley, declined to comment to The Associated Press about the NBC show.