Terry Crews Names Alleged Abuser As WME Executive Adam Venit

Last month, Terry Crews opened up about his own sexual harassment story, but did not name the Hollywood executive responsible.

TERRY CREWS NAMES ABUSER AS ADAM VENIT

Now, in an interview with Good Morning America, Crews has named Adam Venit, an executive at William Morris Endeavor, as his abuser. Crews was at a Hollywood party with his wife when Venit made suggestive faces at him before grabbing his genitals, the former NFL player recounts.

Crews spoke of the incident on Twitter amid the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to share his story and show women that he respects and admires those who came forward. He spoke candidly about it with Michael Strahan on television.

“First of all, back in February 2016, I was assaulted by Adam Venit, who is the head of the motion picture department at William Morris Endeavor, one of the biggest agencies in the world, period,” Crews explained. “He’s also Adam Sandler‘s agent, he’s Sylvester Stallone‘s agent, he’s Eddie Murphy‘s agent, and he’s connected to probably everyone I know in the business. Now this is the thing – I did not know this man. I had never had a convo with him, ever, And he’s basically staring at me, sticking his tongue out, and it’s overtly sexual tongue moves… He keeps coming over to me, I stick my hand out [to shake his], and he literally takes his hand and puts it and squeezes my genitals… and he’s still licking his tongue, and then he comes back again and he won’t stop.”

“I have never felt more emasculated, more objectified, I was horrified,” Crews said.”

EXCLUSIVE: @TerryCrews speaks out; actor shares story of Hollywood harassment: https://t.co/JfBIpbGLMq pic.twitter.com/X8l4Bb1ZNU

— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 15, 2017

He then explained how his wife, years prior, had told him not to react violently, because he, as a black man, would be targeted as the aggressor. “When I grabbed her hand and I left that party, and I got in the car, I almost ripped the steering wheel off, and she just kept saying, ‘I’m proud of you, I’m proud of you,'” Crews described. Her response is what calmed him down that night.

He then turned to the women involved in the Weinstein scandal, and shared that he understands why it become so difficult to accuse your abuser. “Actually, I let it go, I put it in the back of my head and I understood why women everyone had to let it go,” he said. “But let me tell you, when the Weinstein thing started happening, I got PTSD. I was going, OMG this exact thing happened to me, I understand why they won’t come forward. A lot of times, people go, ‘well why didn’t you come forward sooner?’ But here’s the thing, when a person of power breaks that boundary, you’re a prisoner of war. Immediately, you’re in a camp, because you’re trying to figure out when is the right time to come out – when the guard turns his head, when they leave a door open – you’re digging tunnels with spoons, and you get out, you finally find freedom, and then somebody says, ‘well it must not be that bad, you should have come out sooner.'”