BBC reporter calls Cosby ‘Bill Clinton’ on air, prompting anchor’s apology

close

Video

Bill Cosby released from prison after sexual assault conviction overturned

Bill Cosby was released from prison today from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after his sexual assault conviction was overturned. He was met by protester and cheering fans.

An anchor for Britain’s BBC was forced to issue an on-air apology Wednesday after a reporter mistakenly referred to Bill Cosby as "Bill Clinton" during a report on the 83-year-old comedian’s sudden release from prison.

"Just to clarify what was said there in Michelle’s introduction to the story when she mistakenly said Bill Clinton instead of Bill Cosby, we apologize for the mistake," BBC anchor Huw Edwards told viewers immediately following the remote segment from reporter Michelle Fleury.

BILL COSBY ACCUSERS' ATTORNEY GLORIA ALLRED SAYS SHE'LL PROCEED WITH CIVIL SUIT AGAINST HIM

"The story is of course about Bill Cosby the entertainer," Edwards added, according to the Daily Mail.

Just moments earlier, Fleury reported from Pennsylvania, where Cosby was returning to his Philadelphia-area home after being freed following a ruling by the commonwealth’s Supreme Court.

BILL COSBY RULING COULD HAVE CHILLING EFFECT ON SURVIVORS, SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM ADVOCATES SAY

"This has been where Bill Clinton [sic] has called home," Fleury said outside the prison, "but tonight he will sleep in his own bed after the bombshell decision to overturn his conviction of sexual assault."

Bill Cosby, left, and former President Bill Clinton.

Cosby, the longtime star of the TV sitcom "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992), was convicted in connection with a 2004 allegation and sentenced to prison in 2018. 

Clinton, the former president of the United States, has been linked to several sex scandals but has no such criminal record.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Earlier Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Cosby’s conviction, saying that testimony at a retrial of the case had tainted the proceedings.

Before his release Wednesday, Cosby had served more than two years of a three- to 10-year sentence at a state prison near Philadelphia.