Amidst the flood of horrible revelations about horrible people doing horrible things to women in Hollywood, a couple of men have also shared their own experiences of sexual harassment and assault.
One of those men – one of the first, in fact – was Terry Crews, who tweeted that he was groped at a party by an executive at William Morris.
As a former NFL linebacker, action star, and just an incredibly jacked human being, Crews doesn’t exactly fit the tired old stereotypes about people who get sexually harassed. He’s big enough to defend himself, certainly couldn’t be said to be hard up for cash (and thus after a big compensation payout), and wasn’t wearing a sequinned cocktail dress with “PLEASE GRAB MY CROTCH” appliquéd on it, like most so-called “victims” of “assault”.
If you’re not scared of Terry, maybe be scared of Diaz.
Crews took his allegation to the courts, but it turns out, in short, it can’t be a criminal case due to a number of legal technicalities – without skin contact it can’t be felony sexual assault, and the statute of limitations had run out on misdemeanour sexual assault by the time he reported it in November 2017. (The incident happened in February 2016. Which seems like a super short statute of limitations, right?)
He’s pursuing other legal avenues so that the man he’s accused, Adam Venit, could still face consequences for his actions.
In the meantime, the regular Old Spice spokesman today tweeted an incredibly sweet letter of support from the brand’s team at Procter & Gamble.
“At it’s core, sexual misconduct is a lack of respect for another human being.”
Just received this wonderful letter of support from my friends and partners at @OldSpice and @ProcterGamble.
Thank you.
Just, thank you.?? pic.twitter.com/5ubkvnbSFA— terry crews (@terrycrews) March 14, 2018
Here’s what it says:
To our longtime friend Terry,
We at Old Spice and P&G are on your side and offer our support in any way we can as you continue to fight against sexual misconduct. In so many instances it is women who are seen as the only victims of these types of assaults as few men come forward to tell their story too. We hope that men take your lead and stand up to expose those who are taking advantage of their position to cause harm to others. We also believe that men need to take a step back and put an end to the culture that allows sexual assault to continue to be such a pervasive problem. At its core, sexual conduct is a lack of respect for another human being. We have nothing but respect for you, Terry, and we hope more people are empowered to come forward because of your courage.
Also, sexual assault should just stop. I mean, come on. Enough.
Do you know how many people will come for you if you make this man cry?
Old Spice is just a brand owned by one of the most powerful corporations on earth, but it’s also one that’s tied itself to a certain kind of semi-ironic super-masculinity, in part by hiring guys who look like Crews to be the face of the brand.
Every little bit of support helps when you’ve put yourself out there like he has. Old Spice is just a brand, but now it’s the brand your brand could act like.