Terry Crews has settled his lawsuit with agent Adam Venit, the man accused of groping him at a party in 2016, and it appears that part of the settlement deal involved Venit stepping down from his job at the William Morris Endeavor agency.
Crews is one of the more prominent men to come forward as part of the #MeToo movement, and has previously said that he waited more than a year to tell his story publicly, out of fear that he would be ostracised in Hollywood.
During an appearance on Good Morning America earlier this year, Crews detailed his claims against the agent, saying that he and his wife were attending a party when Venit, who he had not met prior, approached him and started behaving inappropriately.
He says that when he attempted to shake Venit’s hand, the agent instead grabbed his crotch and began making suggestive tongue movements. After moving away and pushing Venit back, he allegedly groped Crews’ crotch a second time.
Crews says that he did not physically retaliate any further out of fear of being perceived as a “thug”, but says that he had “never felt more emasculated, more objectified.”
The WME agency was also named as a defendant in the suit, and according to reports in Vanity Fair, Venit resigned from his job as a direct result of the settlement. Per their report:
“The settlement between Crews, Venit, and WME stipulates that the talent agency must pay $375,000 to Crews to cover his attorney fees, and that Venit must resign – with a provision that WME cannot rehire him in any capacity in the future.”
Another result of the settlement is that WME will create new policies around sexual battery and assault, which will require allegations to be reported to the firm’s legal and HR departments.
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