Motivated by the Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the country, Terry Crews took to Twitter on Thursday to further apologize to Gabrielle Union for not having her back when she was fired from America’s Got Talent.
“If we are to move forward as a people we must do the work required to heal the relationships in our community first,” Crews wrote in a five-part thread as he sought to make amends after he denied seeing racism on the set of the NBC talent show. In fact, Crews said it was the most “it was the most diverse place I have ever been in my 20 years of entertainment,” according to Entertainment Weekly. After facing a backlash for not backing Union after she was the first to support his sexual harassment claims, Crews apologized although without saying Union’s name.
That incident occurred back in January, and it seems to have been weighing on Crews because, this time, he made it a point to specifically apologize to Union by her name while acknowledging his privilege in a “society that has sexism built in.”
It is in this light I want to make further amends with Black women, and in particular @itsgabrielleu,” Crews tweeted, “for not recognizing the privilege I have – especially in the workplace- and adding this fact to my earlier apology.”
You can read Crews’ full apology below:
The murder of George Floyd has forced me to search my heart to find out what more I can do, as a human being, as a citizen, and more specifically as a Black man, to ensure our community can not only survive but thrive in this new world.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) June 4, 2020
But I also see that I am privileged as man, in a society that also has sexism built in. This privilege carries over into my community as a Black man in relationship with Black women.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) June 4, 2020
If we are to move forward as a people we must do the work required to heal the relationships in our community first. To whom much is given, much is required. I have a huge responsibility —and I vow to honor it.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) June 4, 2020
Crews’ apology arrives on the heel of his continued championing for Black causes. The actor joined his Brooklyn Nine-Nine costars in donating $100,000 to the National Bail Fund, which has stepped up its work as protesters are being rounded up by police. Crews also stopped by CNN on Wednesday night where he spoke with Don Lemon about the murder of George Floyd.
“We cannot let his death just be meaningless. It has to matter.”
CNN’s @DonLemon speaks with actor @TerryCrews about the social unrest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://t.co/tYfoOSzJmo pic.twitter.com/0tf8JCCpk0
— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) June 3, 2020
During the quarantine, Crews has stayed busy helping causes like Guy Fieri’s Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, but as he told us last month, he looks forward to getting back to work on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which could address the pandemic in its upcoming season.
