Terry Crews has faced tons of backlash in recent years for his public comments on everything from the Black Lives Matter movement to boycotting Atlanta’s Magic City. But folks really dug into him when he seemingly undermined Gabrielle Union on television.
Terry Crews Reveals He Apologized To Gabrielle Union In-Person
Now, in a recent interview with Shannon Sharpe, Terry is opening up about not coming to Gabby’s defense after she blasted the alleged “toxic” workplace of ‘America’s Got Talent.’
“Man, that is one of my biggest biggest regrets,” Terry said. “I had apologized to her publicly, but we had never talked personally.”
He admitted to wanting to have that 1:1. But therapy, he said, taught him to wait on that invite rather than force it. Eventually, it came via Dwyane Wade. Crews said the former pro-athlete and Gabrielle Union extended him so much underserved “kindness” sometime after the incident. Dwyane initiated contact, tapping him on the shoulder while they were at the same venue and offering to dap him up with the greeting, “What’s up, Black man?”
“He said, ‘I see another Black king here, I just wanna acknowledge you.’ He gave me a hug.”
Terry Crews said he would’ve understood if Dwyane gave him the opposite energy due to the ‘AGT’ incident. Instead, he took the opportunity to request a talk with Gabby and Wade together.
“I screwed that up, and then the internet got involved, and I was horrified,” Crews said.
He admitted that he was “ignorant…prideful” for stepping into a situation he didn’t know all the details about. So, how did Gabrielle respond to the in-person apology? Like Dwyane, she gave Terry a “big hug.”
See Terry Crews explain the interaction below.
What Happened Between Terry Crews & Gabrielle Union
For context, in 2019, Gabrielle Union joined ‘America’s Got Talent’ as a judge. But after just one season, the television show’s network dismissed her and another judge, Julianne Hough, in Septemeber of that year.
Days later, Variety published an investigative report into the toxic “culture” at ‘America’s Got Talent.’ By that time, Gabrielle had already escalated several instances of “physical and emotional toxicity” on set, including Judge Simon Cowell smoking on set, despite it being against the law. She also alleged that there were a few instances of racist remarks by people on the production and talent side, per Variety.
But her complaints fell flat, the actress told the outlet. Additionally, ‘AGT’s distributor NBC and producer FremantleMedia didn’t uncover any incident of systemic racism after the investigation. While they implemented HR changes after the investigation, Union didn’t end her fight there. She filed a harassment lawsuit against ‘America’s Got Talent’ in June 2020. A couple of months later, in September, she and NBC settled.
However, months before the lawsuit and settlement, Terry Crews seemingly undermined his former co-worker’s experience. In January 2020, Crews said on TODAY’s ‘3rd Hour’ show that he had “never” experienced a racist atmosphere at ‘AGT.’ He went on to call it the “most diverse” place he’s worked at in his entire entertainment career.
Gabrielle Union later clapped back at the then-host in a series of Twitter (now X) posts. In one, she wrote, “Why anyone would gleefully get up on TV and tell lies that NO ONE disputed…but we already know.”
Swipe below to see his comments and Gabby’s clapback.
Terry Crews later apologized on Twitter, saying it was never his “intention to invalidate [her] experience” but recognized that’s what he “did.”
