Terry Crews reveals he won't do 'Expendables 4' because of fallout from sexual harassment case
Terry Crews has said that will not be involved in a future Expendables movie because of the incident of sexual abuse he suffered.
Crews has alleged that Hollywood agent Adam Venit, a partner at the giant talent firm WME, assaulted him at a party in 2016, and that Expendables producer Avi Lerner later threatened his career if he did not drop the case.
The actor made an emotional appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, which has met to hear arguments over the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights.
“The assault lasted only minutes, but what he was effectively telling me while he held my genitals in his hand was that he held the power. That he was in control,” he said.
“This is how toxic masculinity permeates culture. As I shared my story, I was told over and over that this was not abuse. This was just a joke. This was just horseplay.
“But I can say one man’s horseplay is another man’s humiliation. And I chose to tell my story and share my experience to stand in solidarity with millions of other survivors around the world.
“That I know how hard it is to come forward, I know the shame associated with the assault. It happened to me.”
Crews went on to describe the abusive household he grew up in, and how it affected his outlook as a man.
“I watched as my father violently abused my mother, using his power and authority to dominate her. All I could think was how I wanted to protect her. How, if I get strong, I can protect her from this living nightmare,” he went on.
“This thought transformed the type of man I became. I swore I would never be like my father and yet I believed, to my core, that as a man, I was more valuable in this world. As a protector and symbol of strength, I was more worthy. That women were beneath me.
“I used images of women’s body and pornography at my disposal, validating my need for control. I often cut women short of sharing personal details of their lives so they would seem less human, less real. As a man, I was taught my entire life that I must control the world. So, I used power, influence and control to dominate every situation: from the football field to the film set, even in my own home with my wife and children.”
However, he says that the 2016 incident changed his perspective.
“I’m not a small or insecure man, but in that moment, and in this time following, I’ve never felt more emasculated,” he said.
“As I watched women and colleagues in my industry come forward to share their #MeToo stories, this shame washed over me again and I knew I needed to act.”
Venit was suspended without pay last year, according to WME, while Lerner has not commented on the allegations.
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