Terry Crews took to Twitter Tuesday to say that the whole Harvey Weinstein situation is giving him post-traumatic stress disorder. You may be asking yourself why, but in a series of 16 tweets, Crews explains that women are not the only ones who have been sexually harassed by Hollywood’s male honchos; Crews himself was once a victim, too.
Crews’ tale begins at a Hollywood party he attended with his wife. He said that while at the function, a “high level” Hollywood executive came up to him and groped his private parts.
Crews, immediately startled, asked the exec what he was doing. He said the executive just grinned at him “like a jerk.”
Frustrated, Crews said his first instinct was to kick the executive’s ass, but he knew the optics on that wouldn’t be good.
“‘240 lbs. Black Man stomps out Hollywood honcho’ would be the headline the next day,” Crews wrote.
Crews said that rather than risk going to jail that night, he left the party with his wife instead. He said he spent that night and the next day talking to everyone he knew who had previously worked with the executive and told them what happened.
The executive called him the next day to apologize, Crews said, but offered no explanation as to why he had grabbed Crews’ genitals in the first place. Crews said that fear of being ostracized in Hollywood kept him from taking the situation any further.
He let it go, and he said that in doing so, it made him understand why so many women remain silent as well.
“Who’s going 2 believe you? (few) What r the repercussions? (many) Do u want 2 work again? (Yes) R you prepared to be ostracized? (No),” Crews wrote.
“I love what I do,” Crews continued. “But it’s a shame and the height of disappointment when someone tries to take advantage of that.”
Crews wrote that the person who sexually molested him “knows who he is,” and said that sometimes you have to wait and compare notes with others who have been victimized as well in order to gain a position of strength.
“I understand and empathize with those who have remained silent,” Crews wrote. “But Harvey Weinstein is not the only perpetrator.”
Crews noted that Hollywood is not the only business where this happens. “To the casualties of this behavior—you are not alone,” he said.
Crews said he hopes that his coming forward with his story will deter a predator and help someone who feels hopeless.
We do, too.
Bravo, Terry. Bravo.