Terry Crews Claims ‘Expendables 4’ Producer Threatened Him After He Spoke Out On Sexual Assault

It appears that despite his consistent efforts to be an outspoken voice against sexual assault, Terry Crews is still feeling the backlash of certain industry members who do not want him to speak further about the nature of misconduct amongst some of cinema’s biggest power players.

In a report published by Deadline, the actor mentioned how he was threatened with some sort of backlash for his active commentary on the topic of sexual assault by a Hollywood agent, saying the producer of The Expendables 4 warned of vague “troubles” unless he withdraws his civil suit.

While he was testifying for the Senate Judiciary Committee in regards to his prior work combatting sexual assault, Crews mentioned that Expendables producer Avi Lerner gave his manager a call and made the request for the actor to drop his case against Adam Venit. Only then would they be willing to allow Crews to appear in the fourth installment of the action film.

Senator Amy Klobuchar questioned Crews as to if he does indeed have a role in the blockbuster sequel.

In response, Crews stated a concise but firm “no. Simply because this same producer is under his own … investigation. Abusers protect abusers — and this is one thing I had to decide, whether I was going to draw the line on. Am I going to be a part of this or am I gonna take a stand, and there are projects I had to turn down.”

WATCH – @terrycrews full opening statement: "I am honored to use my platform and story to help create additional civil rights protections for survivors across the nation under the Sexual Assault #SurvivorsBillofRights."

Full video here: https://t.co/RGjyB1WSAm pic.twitter.com/ezi14zs3mY

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 26, 2018

The actor was reportedly one of three individuals who came forward to speak to the committee in corroboration with the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, which provides a new set of rights for victims of sexual violence and is implemented on a federal level.

In a powerful statement, Crews said “what happened to me has happened to many many other men in Hollywood, and since I came forward with my story I have had thousands and thousands of men come to me and say ‘Me too, this is my story. But I did not have the confidence, or I did not feel safe enough, to come out,'” The actor added. “Because what happens is you get blacklisted, your career is in danger — after that, no one wants to work with you.”

Crews’ allegation is that he was sexually assaulted in 2016 at a party where he stated that agent Adam Venit aggressively grabbed his genitalia and told him that he was the one “in control” for several minutes.