Creed is being called the best Rocky movie since Rocky. The protagonist is Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan), a young man who after spending years in juvenile prisons, discovers that he’s the son of the late Apollo Creed. Adonis is told this news by Creed’s widow, Mary Anne Creed, who takes him in at her Beverly Hills mansion, while former boxing champ Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) trains him for the ring. Creed’s widow is portrayed by Phylicia Rashad.
[Phylicia Rashad’s Strange Distance From Bill Cosby]
Will Leitch of Deadspin points out that Rashad’s “every appearance brought Bill Cosby to mind,” and he noted that it was his (Leitch’s) “bailiwick to overcome, not hers.” A generous sidenote, but the bailiwick might be easier to overcome if Rashad had publicly addressed the allegations against her former co-star. Or if in addressing the Cosby accusations in an aside to a reporter, she hadn’t said about the alleged victims: “forget these women.” It’s Rashad’s business to believe what she wishes, but as Leitch points out it requires superhuman powers to ignore the echo of Cosby (and her unwavering support of him) when she’s on screen.
