Actor Terry Crews has come out publicly for the first time to name the Hollywood executive who allegedly sexually assaulted him at an industry party in February 2016. The man has been identified as Adam Venit, the head of a motion picture department at a major talent agency, in Beverly Hills.
Crews appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday discussing Venit.
“He’s connected to probably everyone I know in the business … I did not know this man. I have never had a conversation with him, ever.”
Crews is a former NFL player who now stars on Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine Nine” as a police sergeant. Crews first spoke out in mid-October shortly after when news about Harvey Weinstein and decades of his alleged sexual harassment broke out in a New York Times article.
Since then, at least 20 different high profile men in Hollywood have been accused of such acts against men and women.
On October 10th, Terry Crews wrote 16 tweets regarding the news about Weinstein and how it reminds him of his own personal experience with sexual assault.
.@terrycrews is here showing that it's important to know that it's not only women that are victims of sexual harassment, and it is OK for men to speak out about their abuse too, no matter how big and muscular you are. pic.twitter.com/QKEDWRxDan
— steph jaqueline (@stephjkd) October 11, 2017
Crews was attending this party with his wife, Rebecca King-Crews, who was also present when Venit began staring at Crews. Crews states Venit was making “overly sexual” motions with his tongue.
“I’m looking like, ‘Is this a joke?’ … It was actually so bizarre,” Crews said. “He comes over to me. I stick my hand out, and he literally takes his hand and puts it and squeezes my genitals. I jump back like, ‘Hey, hey.’”
Crews continues with saying, “And he’s still licking his tongue out and all this stuff, and I go, ‘Dude, what are you doing? What are you doing?’ and then he comes back again. He just won’t stop.”
Crews said he pushed Venit away from him causing Venit to bump into others at the event. Venit didn’t take the situation seriously, as he began to laugh.
“I have never felt more emasculated, more objectified,” Crews said. “I wake up every morning wondering, ‘Did this really happen?’ ”
Crews claims he was most concerned for his wife at this time. He says he positioned himself in between her and Venit so Venit wouldn’t dare approach her. Afterwards, Crews says he was in a fit of rage on the drive home. He just couldn’t believe what took place. Crews credits his wife for calming him down and congratulating him for not being violent with Venit, due to what the headlines would have been the next day. As an African-American man, Crews would have looked like the person to blame for the situation if he resorted to violence.
As of November 8th, Crews has filed a police report with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Crews also addressed to Good Morning America that he understands why many victims do not come forward.
“I put it in the back of my head, and I understood why women everywhere had to let it go. When the Weinstein thing started happening, I got PTSD. I was going, ‘Oh, my God, this exact thing happened to me. I understand why they won’t come forward.’”
Crews is a father of five and states that part of the reason he came forward was to set a good example for his children.
“I said, ‘Man, what kind of man would I be to tell my kids, ‘If someone touches you where you don’t want to be touched, tell someone, tell someone,’ and then I don’t do it?” he said. “Let me tell you something, it freed me.”
He continued, “I knew instantly that I had to tell my story so that other people could be free.”
After the Good Morning America segment aired, Crews posted a tweet with just the hashtag “#imfree”.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) November 15, 2017
