Terry Crews Says 10 Percent Of His ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Season 6 Salary Goes To ‘The Agency That Molested Me’
Terry Crews delivered a “sobering” thought to fans over the weekend. The 49-year-old former NFL star turned actor revealed that a significant portion of his acting salary goes to the talent agency he fired last fall amid claims of sexual molestation. Crews, who has played NYPD Sergeant Terry Jeffords on the Fox sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine since 2013, took to Twitter to inform fans of his shocking salary situation.
“Very sobering Sunday thought. 10% of my Season 6 @nbcbrooklyn99 income will go to @WME, the agency that molested me. Adam Venit still works everyday. No repercussions. UNREAL.”
In a second Twitter post, Crews explained why he will still be required to pay the William Morris Endeavor (WME) talent agency for his work on the upcoming sixth season of the police procedural sitcom, which will move to NBC next year.
“I fired @WME last November. Talent agencies in Hollywood have no one to police them. So legally, they can sue me for unpaid commissions, no matter what they do.”
Last November, Terry Crews went public with allegations against Adam Venit, the head of WME’s motion picture department, saying he grabbed his genitals during an industry party at Hutchinson restaurant in February 2016. Venit was placed on a one-month leave during an internal investigation, but the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office concluded that Crews’ allegations fell outside the statute of limitations so no criminal charges were filed.
A felony filing was also declined by the L.A. City Attorney due to the nature of the alleged incident, according to Variety.
“Given that the suspect did not make contact with the victim’s skin when he grabbed the victim’s genitals and there is no restraint involved, a felony filing is declined,” a prosecutor determined of the charges.
Terry Crews sues WME agent Adam Venit for sexual assault https://t.co/peWrzbYNDi pic.twitter.com/0j3FzbDV1r
— Variety (@Variety) December 5, 2017
Terry Crews went on to file a civil suit against Venit, accusing the Hollywood agent of sexual assault. Last month, Deadline reported the actor was threatened by the producer of the movie The Expendables 4, who warned him of “troubles” if he didn’t withdraw his lawsuit against Venit.
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing about the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, Crews revealed that Expendables producer Avi Lerner called his manager to request he drop his case against Venit if he wanted to appear in the fourth installment of the action film franchise. Crews later said “abusers protect abusers,” citing Lerner’s own sexual harassment suit by an unnamed woman.
Terry Crews revealed that while he originally intended to keep quiet about his sexual molestation incident, once the Me Too movement took full swing last fall, he decided to take a stand to prevent others from falling victim to Hollywood sexual predators. Many Time’s Up and Me Too supporters, including Rose McGowan, have applauded Crews’ bravery for going public with his story.
“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,” Crews said. ” Because what happens is you get blacklisted, your career is in danger — after that, no one wants to work with you.”
Adam Venit was not fired by WME, but he was recently demoted from head of the Motion Picture Department to an agent.
