美国国家公共电台 NPR Terry Crews On His Sexual Assault Lawsuit: This Is About Accountability

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Last week, Time magazine announced the silence breakers as their person of the year, referring to those who helped create a greater awareness¹ around sexual assault and harassment². Terry Crews is one of those silence breakers. He is a former NFL player, now an actor who currently stars in the TV show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." He was one of the first male actors to say me too when he tweeted about being groped by an influential³ Hollywood agent at a party in 2016. He's with us now from our studios in Culver City, Calif. Terry Crews, thank you so much for speaking with us.

TERRY CREWS: Good to be here.

MARTIN: And I'm sorry to take you back to that moment because I know it can't be easy or pleasant, but I did want to ask you about the night that you tweeted about back in 2016. Could you just - again, I know it's not pleasant or fun, could you just set the stage for us? I mean, it was a party, and then what happened?

CREWS: I was invited to a party with Adam Sandler, and my wife and I went. And I've been doing a lot of things with Adam. I've done almost eight pictures with them. I know a lot of his contemporaries and the whole thing. But this was the first time that I met Mr. Adam Venit, who was his agent. But I knew who he was because we were both at the same agency. And I'm looking at him, and he's staring at me from across the room. He's sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth, like it's very sexual connotations. I'm going, this is weird⁴. I literally⁵ looked behind me. I thought he was looking at somebody else. You know, I'm going, what's this? And I turned back around, and it was clear he was looking at me. And he comes up to me, and I stick my hand out, my right hand, just to say hey. He takes his right hand up, I'm thinking he's going to shake my hand, and he grabs my - and squeezes my genitals. I just jumped back like, hey, hey, hey, like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And it's hard to describe what happens at that moment because you just like - you think I'm somebody else? You know, like, I'm trying to find ways to rectify⁶ what this is about, you know.

MARTIN: It's like your mind can't accept what your body is experiencing in a way.

CREWS: You know, the only thing I can really compare it to, I had a car stolen before. And, you know, you go back. And you, you know, I parked here, but it's not here. It's the confusion and the weirdness⁷. You're like, what did I do? You're trying to put together a reality and it's not making sense.

MARTIN: So what happened after that?

CREWS: I wanted to go hurt him seriously and basically knock his head off. I mean, it was one of those things where I was like, you got to understand, you can't do this.

MARTIN: So just to fast-forward a bit. I mean, when you tweeted about this, you said, look, I thought twice about how the whole thing would appear - 240-pound black man stomps⁸ out Hollywood honcho would be the headline the next day. So you figured you would be blamed.

CREWS: That's it. I mean, first of all, you're talking about a country where a little kid is walking with a pack of Skittles and gets harassed⁹ by a man, and the kid ends up dead, and the harasser¹⁰ is still walking around free. I know what kind of country this is. And I know I would instantly be seen as, oh, there it is, that nice Terry Crews was a joke and he's really a thug. He's really - this is the real Terry Crews. We always knew that all these big black guys just want to kill us and they're waiting for excuses. I've been approached like that many, many times. And it changed the narrative¹¹ for me because I couldn't even feel like I could defend myself, honestly. And I grabbed my wife's hand, and we ran out of there. We were out.

MARTIN: So at what point did you decide it was time to talk about that night?

CREWS: Well, the next day, I called my agent. And he's like, oh, my God, we're going to - we're going to handle this. Believe me, we take this stuff very seriously. Let me tell you, if I hear that phrase one more time, it's like a joke now because, you know, whenever anybody is saying they're going to take you very seriously, it's not being taken seriously at all. And then I got a call from Venit himself to apologize. Like, he's like, you know, man, I'm sorry. And, you know, I wasn't myself that night. First of all, it was - when you say I'm sorry like the way he gave me, it was for when you step on somebody's foot by mistake. You know, I was just like, this is ridiculous.

So I brought it up to everyone and was told it was going to be handled at its highest levels. And I was ignored for a year and a half. I never went to any William Morris meetings at the offices. I never went to any William Morris parties or functions or anything. I avoided them like the plague because I just didn't want to run into him again. I never want to see him because I knew if he would have stuck his tongue out at me one more time, there would have been no mercy. I knew I would do something that I would regret.

MARTIN: So subsequently, so, you know, fast-forward. What made you decide to tweet about it and to talk about it? I mean, you did - I think, first of all, I appreciate your clarifying. You did talk about it. You did talk about it contemporaneously. And you did talk about it following, you know, what you thought would make sense reasonably, which is to talk to the people who hire him. What made you decide to tweet about it, to let everybody know that this had happened?

CREWS: Once the Weinstein story broke and these women were coming out and saying what he did. And I just kept hearing and looking at Twitter and looking online. And I was hearing, oh, boy, these women, here they come. They just want attention and a payday. And I got angry. I got really angry because I said, this is - they're being dismissed. I'm like, this stuff is happening. It happens. It happened to me. You know, I remember just feeling like, no, somebody's got to support them. Somebody's got to back these people up because they're about to get shamed. They're about to get thrown to the wolves.

And I said, I got to back these women up because they are going through the toughest time in their life and it happened to me. That was the big thing. I had to describe what it feels like. Why should you come forward? I mean, because you could lose everything. You are going to be ostracized¹². And everyone was like, they're just lying and they want this. I'm like, what's the reason to lie? You know, there's no reason.

MARTIN: To that end though, and in fact you said when you were interviewed by Time magazine, you said, until men stand up and say this harassment, this abuse, these assaults are wrong, nothing will change. If I was silent, it would mean I'm consenting to all of it. But I do have to ask you, have you felt that retaliation¹³? Do you feel that there has been a backlash against you, just as there has been against some of the women who have spoken out?

CREWS: It's been very, very strange because there have been a lot of white racists who have been coming out and saying you're a coward. You are nothing. You are weak and whatever. And then a lot of black extremists that are like, you are the weakest black man of all time. Because one thing that both of those guys agree on is that I should've punched him and hurt him and destroyed him. You know, that's the cult¹⁴ of masculinity right there, you know. And then you get a lot of like, why are you even coming out on this kind of thing? And a lot of guys because what it is is man code, you know. You're supporting these women with this kind of thing. What I got was a lot of, you know, innocent until proven guilty. How can you accuse these people? And you can ruin their lives. That's the big question I got. Hey man, you know, these women, they could ruin a guy's life instantly.

MARTIN: So just this past week, you filed a lawsuit¹⁵ alleging¹⁶ assault, sexual battery, gender¹⁷ violence, saying the agency - against the individual himself and the agency, saying that the agency, quote, unquote, "condones¹⁸ sexual assault, and in doing so, encourages sexual predatory behavior." We reached out to William Morris Endeavor about the case. They haven't responded. But what do you hope this lawsuit will accomplish?

CREWS: This is about accountability. This is about discipline. I don't want revenge. That's not what I'm looking for. What I'm looking for is discipline because they tried to throw the shame on me. And I have to keep reminding myself I will not be shamed. I did nothing wrong. And you almost have to repeat it because somehow our society is wired for the victim to take the whole brunt of shame because if no one gets a pass, if everyone holds everyone accountable every time, the whole system will be disciplined into knowing how to behave because this is all about not accepting this foul²⁰ behavior.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, I just wondered, I mean, you have been sort of at the apex²¹ of what a lot of men aspire²² to. I mean, you've been an NFL star. You have been a, you know, an action hero star. You've been on television shows. And you're like a poster man for the masculine ideal. And I just wonder if, now that you've come out and said things like I have been a victim of this, and I just wonder, first of all, did you ever think that you would be a role model in that way? And how does it feel now that you've come out, as it were?

CREWS: You know, I have to say, you know, it's very hard for most men to ever say these kinds of things happen because of the shame. This is a cultural pandemic that has gone so far to the point where people feel like it's part of the job that you have to take this kind of treatment. And I feel that I am speaking and this lawsuit is standing²³ for all the generations of men and women and children who were forced out of their dreams, had them destroy before their eyes and watched their predator¹⁹ go on to bigger and bigger success. Let me tell you, I've been to therapy over this thing. And it's funny because my therapist told me, she's like, you're now an activist²⁴. And, you know, it's weird because when the moment you don't take it anymore, you are an instantly an activist. It's not like standing in front of crowds of people or whatever but it's just saying no. No, I will not accept this. I will not stand for it. And, hey, anybody who wants to be with me and get behind me, let's go.

MARTIN: That's actor and former NFL star Terry Crews talking about his experiences with sexual harassment and abuse in the entertainment industry. Terry Crews was kind enough to join us from our studios at NPR West in Culver City. Terry Crews, thank you so much for speaking with us.

CREWS: Thank you, Michel.

MARTIN: After we talked with Terry Crews, a William Morris Endeavor spokesperson told us that the company launched an investigation²⁵ into the incident as soon as they learned about it, which they say was in October of this year. They said, quote, "the investigation has resulted in Adam Venit being suspended without pay and demoted from his position as head of the motion picture department," unquote.

1 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

7 weirdness   

n.古怪，离奇，不可思议

参考例句：

• The weirdness of the city by night held her attention. 夜间城市的古怪景象吸引了她的注意力。
• But that's not the end of the weirdness feasible in evolutionary systems. 然而这还不是进化系统居然可行的最怪异的地方呐。

8 stomps   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This one ends the world, stomps on it, grinds it up and spits it out. 这一部又把世界给终结了，践踏了地球，还碾压她，然后再把她吐出来。 来自互联网

9 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

10 harasser   

参考例句：

• Inform the harasser that his or her attentions are unwanted. 告诉骚扰人他／她的注意是不需要的。 来自互联网
• Understand that this is the same with our workplace bully and harasser. 了解职场欺负者和骚扰者也是这样。 来自互联网

11 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

12 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

15 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

16 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

17 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

18 condones   

v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A morality that condones such bloodshed is totally unacceptalbe to me. 宽恕这种杀戮的道德是我完全不能接受的。 来自辞典例句
• When government condones evil, he insists, "the true place for a just man is a prison." 他坚持认为，当政府宽容罪恶时，“正直人的真正去处是监狱”。 来自哲学部分

19 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

20 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

21 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

22 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

23 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

24 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

25 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。