Inside Malcolm-Jamal Warner's Relationship With Bill Cosby on and Off Camera

Malcolm-Jamal Warner looked up to Bill Cosby when the pair worked together on The Cosby Show.

Cosby and Warner played father-son duo Heathcliff and Theo Huxtable on the classic sitcom from 1984 to 1992. The pair formed a friendship while working together for eight seasons.

Warner always looked up to Cosby as a mentor. However, things changed after Cosby was accused of sexual misconduct in 2015. Cosby has denied all the allegations against him. Warner, for his part, spoke out and shared he only had positive experiences with the actor.

“I can’t really speak on any of the allegations because obviously, I was not there. The Bill Cosby I know has been great to me and great for a lot of people,” he said in a January 2015 interview with Billboard. “What he’s done for comedy and television has been legendary and history-making. What he’s done for the black community and education has been invaluable. That’s the Bill Cosby I know. I can’t speak on the other stuff.”

Jaleel White Reacts to Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s ‘Disturbing’ Death

In 2017, Cosby’s first sexual misconduct lawsuit resulted in a mistrial. The following year, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. The actor was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. After serving two years behind bars, Cosby’s conviction was overturned and he was released.

News broke in July 2025 that Warner died by unexpected drowning while in Costa Rica. He was 54 years old.

Keep scrolling for a look back on Warner and Cosby’s relationship on and off screen:

A Role Model

After speaking up amid Cosby’s legal scandal, Warner expressed his appreciation for the comedian.

“He’s one of my mentors, and he’s been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor,” Warner said to Billboard in 2015. “Just as it’s painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it’s just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this.”

A Great Colleague

Warner gushed about how it was “pretty incredible” to work alongside Cosby.

“He’s great with people. He has a wonderful sense of being able to set a tone on the set,” Warner said in a September 2017 sit-down with Larry King. “So people [would] come to work on our show and be so surprised about the genuine, sincere liking and respect that we all had for each other. Amongst the cast and crew, there was always a great vibe and that comes down from the top.”

Warner added that Cosby’s humility gave him “a real sense of how to handle celebrityhood and living in the public eye.”

Appreciating His Legacy

Warner expressed his admiration for Cosby and all the good their sitcom did to uplift the Black community in the media despite the allegations made against him.

“I can neither defend nor throw Mr. Cosby under the bus,” Warner wrote via Instagram in February 2021. “Current circumstances notwithstanding, and despite attempts to strip him of his legacy, these accomplishments and influence can never be taken away. And they should be remembered.”

A Noble Work Ethic

Two months before his death, Warner reflected on how Cosby balanced his career when at peak popularity.

“We got to the point where we got it down to four days and Thursday night after we would tape, he would jump on a plane and he would go to either Vegas, Tahoe or Atlantic City or somewhere and he would do stand-up Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” he recalled during a May 2025 episode of the “Hot and Bothered” podcast. “He would be the first person back to work on Monday. This is while having the no. 1 show in the world. I watched, and it made me understand when you are hot, that’s when you grind … that’s when you stack all the chips.”