Beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor Terry Crews has been catching heat on Twitter all this week, after controversial comments he made about fatherhood and the role of single and same-sex parents led many followers to criticise him for pushing a sexist view on families.
Crews has long been outspoken on this particular topic. For instance, in a 2014 appearance on The View, he said that there are things a child can only get from their father, and then spoke over the women on the panel who disagreed, which was … yeah, not a fantastic look:
Terry Crews On The Importance Of Fatherhood https://t.co/f42PZqH3rL via @YouTube
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) March 1, 2019
The issue came alive again this week, when Crews linked to a New York Times article entitled ‘Why Does Obama Scold Black Boys?‘ and criticised its author, lawyer Derecka Purnell, asking how a woman would possibly know how to raise boys into successful young men.
Another thing that bothers me is that this OP-ED was written by a WOMAN about how how boys should be taught to grow into successful young men.
How would she know?
MEN NEED TO HOLD OTHER MEN ACCOUNTABLE.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) February 24, 2019
When he was accused of misogyny, he replied “no misogyny involved. Just reminding you that fathers are just as necessary as mothers. Especially for young men. And even if he doesn’t have a father around – they need to see an example of what a good man is.”
It seemed to be going well, until this happened:
Terry Crews later deleted his “poorly worded” Tweet and apologised to those who were upset by it, but screengrabs are still doing the rounds, and many are still angry at the actor for suggesting that they’re somehow emotionally “malnourished” after being raised by single-sex parents.
“I’m deadass doing just fine and you calling me ‘severely malnourished’ because your masculinity is threatened by the suggestion that kids can be happy and successful without a male parent in their lives doesn’t change that,” said one angry follower in response.
Crews then proceeded to dig his heels in, retweeting supportive messages and hitting out at critics, including one who called him a “misogynist, homophobic asshole” for his comments. Throughout it all, though, he steadfastly maintained his views on parenting.
You apparently thought I was your puppet. But I have a mind of my own, and can see and think very clearly.
The “phobic” tag is the most feared public tag next to racist.
I don’t fear it because I am neither.
Bullies come in all shapes and sizes. https://t.co/wuBRM2SdEo
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) March 2, 2019
I explained it just like I meant to. You need both. https://t.co/2aXCUEiHDW
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) March 2, 2019
Eventually, Crews resigned himself to the fact that he’s now “cancelled” for his comments on parenthood and fathers:
I have another very controversial statement to make, and I will since I’m “canceled” anyway.
As a human being there are things you can only get from your mother.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) March 2, 2019
In response, fans told him that he’s not “cancelled”, but pleaded with him to simply listen to the other side and understand why so many children of single and same-sex parents might rightly be angry at the suggestion they’re “malnourished.”
“I hope you can listen to what folks are telling you instead of digging your heels in,” said one. “Some women don’t want children, some kids have two fathers, etc etc etc some have nothing at all and they can still grow up to be strong, lovely human beings. love is love.”
“Terry, my dude, you’re not cancelled,” said another, “you’re just not listening to WHY people are upset. You’re stuck in your heteronormative view. Someone raised by all men can be just as wonderful as someone raised by all women can be just as wonderful as someone raised by both. It’s not hard.”
In all likelihood, we can expect a carefully-worded, publicist-approved statement on all this at some point in the next few days.
