Terry Crews apologized to Gabrielle Union in a series of tweets he issued on Jan. 31.
The actor sent the messages after he didn’t back up claims that were written in a Variety report that said Union brought up instances of racism and sexism on the set of “America’s Got Talent.” And now Nick Cannon has spoken out, too. Cannon, who hosted “AGT” from 2009 to 2016, commented on the Crews/ Union situation on VladTV in an interview that was published on YouTube on Jan. 28.
Union was a judge on the show’s 14th season and was then let go.
Eventually, it was said the actress was terminated because she brought up the issues on-set. In January, when Crews visited “The 3rd Hour of Today” and denied seeing racism take place at “AGT,” he was slammed by many.
“That was never my experience,” he said during the interview. “In fact, it was the most diverse place I have ever been in my 20 years of entertainment.”
Besides the everyday social media users that blasted Crews, Union did as well.
In her defense, Cannon told DJ Vlad that Union pointed out things “that are true issues that need to be rendered and fixed. People are like, ‘Oh, now she’s angry. Now she’s a troublemaker,’ ” said Cannon, who quit “AGT” after he reportedly was threatened with termination for making a joke away from the show. His comments about Union and Crews started at the 3:57 mark of the interview.
“I love Terry Crews,” he also stated. “But it gets to that place … It’s an institutional thing, so I’m not blaming him. We get excited about the occupation, we get excited to work for the man and we gon’ defend the man because he gave me a job. ‘I ain’t seen nothing’ becomes that, that thing … It don’t matter what you saw because I stood firmly by him when my former agent accosted him … We stood by you because you said this was an issue.”
“The Masked Singer” host was referencing Crews’ claims he was groped by the former Hollywood talent agent Adam Venit in the past.
In his Jan. 31 tweets, Crews issued the following apology to Union.
“I told @KevinHart4real a while ago, he needed 2 ‘acknowledge the pain of other people,’ Crews tweeted. “Right now I have to do the same thing. I want to apologize for the comments I made. I realize there are a lot of Black women hurt and let down by what I said and also by what I didn’t say.
“I hear you, I respect you and understand you,” Crews wrote to Union. “I am sorry and I am here to support you. I spoke from my own personal point of view without first taking into consideration someone else’s experience.
“I want you to know it was never my intention to invalidate your experience,” he added. “But that is what I did. I apologize. You have been through a lot in this business, and with that I empathize with the struggle toward fairness and equality in the workplace.”
Following Cannon’s interview, many gave their opinions in the YouTube comments.
“Nick calling Terry a sellout in the most tactful way possible,” one person wrote.
“Nick told us about AGT years ago lol Now Terry shucking and jiving for em,” wrote another.
