Two top artistic prizes awarded to disgraced US comedian Bill Cosby have been rescinded.
The Kennedy Center trustees voted on Monday to remove Cosby's Kennedy Center Honors, which recognises contributions to American culture, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour following his sexual assault conviction last month.
"As a result of Mr Cosby's recent criminal conviction, the Board concluded that his actions have overshadowed the very career accomplishments these distinctions from the Kennedy Center intend to recognise," the Washington DC organisation said in a statement.
The Kennedy Center joins several American universities that have revoked honorary degrees bestowed upon the 80-year-old star of hit TV series The Cosby Show.
A Pennsylvania jury last month found Cosby guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former director of operations for the Temple University women's basketball team. Cosby pleaded not guilty and his lawyers say they will appeal.
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Last week, Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, expelled Cosby.
Cosby was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998 and the Mark Twain Prize in 2009.
The moves to rescind Cosby's distinctions come as US institutions grapple with how to respond to sexual misconduct allegations against prominent public figures they have honoured or taken money from in the past, sparked by the #MeToo social movement.
