Following the recent filing of a police report, Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews joined Good Morning America's Michael Strahan to detail allegedly being sexually assaulted by Adam Venit in 2016. Crews—without naming Venit—first revealed the alleged assault in a series of tweets in October. Venit, who represented a multitude of top-name clients at the William Morris Endeavor agency, has since been placed on leave.
"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 said Wednesday. "What was wild is that my wife and I were at an event for Adam Sandler, and the thing is he's also Adam Sander’s agent, he's Sylvester Stallone's agent, he's Eddie Murphy's agent. He's connected to probably everyone I know in the business." Venit also represents Dustin Hoffman and Brett Ratner, who were recently named in separate sexual harassment claims of their own.
Crews noted that he and Venit didn't know each other prior to last year's event. "[Venit's] basically staring at me, and sticking his tongue out, just overtly sexual kind of tongue moves," Crews recalled. At multiple points, Crews said, Venit approached him and squeezed his genitals. "I have never felt more emasculated, more objectified, I was horrified," he said. "I went over to Adam right then and there, and I went 'Adam, come get your boy. What is his problem?'" The behavior was "bizarre to both of us," Crews added.
Addressing the preposterous cacophony of victim-blaming that always arrives on the heels of sexual assault allegations, Crews explained that anyone supporting that mindset simply doesn't understand what it's like to have these boundaries broken. "When a person of power breaks that boundary and violates that boundary, you're a prisoner of war," he said.
"Immediately, you're in a camp. Because you're trying to find out, when is the right time to come out? When does the guard turn their head, when do they leave a door open? And you're digging tunnels with spoons and you're trying to find a way out, and you get out and then you finally find freedom, and somebody says 'Well, it must not be that bad, you shoulda came out sooner!' And you're like, 'I'm free. I finally got free.'"
Crews spoke briefly with TMZ outside LAPD's Hollywood Division last week and revealed plans to file a suit. "We're gonna go all the way," he said.
