In an interview with “Good Morning America,” actor Terry Crews detailed the grotesque incident where high-level Hollywood agent Adam Venit allegedly grabbed his crotch in front of his wife while at a major party.
For a quick recap, last month, shortly after the Weinstein allegations rocked Hollywood, several male celebs, James Van Der Beek and Terry Crews among them, spoke out on Twitter about sexual harassment they faced at the hands of Hollywood power players. At first, Crews kept silent about the identity of his alleged groper until several weeks later when Variety reported he planned to name Adam Venit of WME motion picture group as the man who violated him.
Venit, who does not represent Crews, has since been placed on leave from WME. His extensive list of A-list clients include Brett Ratner, who has been accused of sexual harassment amidst the Weinstein fire, as well as Emma Stone, Adam Sandler, Diane Keaton, Shawn Levy, Vince Vaughn, Marc Forster, and Eddie Murphy.
“He’s connected to probably everyone I know in the business,” Crews said of Adam Venit on “Good Morning America.”
“I did not know this man. I have never had a conversation with him, ever. … The first time I ever had an interaction with him was at this event,” he continued.
The alleged encounter began with Adam Venit preying on Crews from afar.
“I’m looking at him and he’s basically staring at me and he’s sticking his tongue out. Just overtly sexual kind of tongue moves. It’s a party, it’s packed, the whole thing,” Crews said. “And I’m looking like, ‘Is this a joke? I don’t understand.’ It was actually so bizarre. And he keeps coming over to me. I stick my hand out and he literally takes his hand and puts it, squeezes my genitals. And I jump back like, ‘Hey, hey!’ . . . I go, ‘Dude, what are you doing?’”
Crews claims his wife was standing by him as the harassment took place. Venit allegedly did not back down.
“And then he comes back again and he just won’t stop. And then I really got forceful, pushed him back, he bumps into all the other partygoers and he starts giggling and laughing,” Crews said. “I have never felt more emasculated, more objectified. I was horrified.”
According to Crews, he told Adam Sandler of the incident right away, who acknowledged that Venit’s behavior was “bizarre.”
“I went over to Adam [Sandler] right then and there and said, ‘Man, come get your boy. What is his problem?’” Crews said.
Crews has since filed a police report with the LAPD and plans to sue Venit.
“People need to be held accountable,” Crews said. “This is the deal about Hollywood. It is an abuse of power. This guy, again, he’s one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and he looked at me at the end as if, ‘Who is going to believe you?’”
“When a person of power breaks that boundary . . . you are a prisoner of war,” Crews continued. “You’re in a camp, because you’re trying to figure out when is the right time to come out. Then you finally find freedom and someone says, ‘Well it must not be that bad. You should’ve came out sooner.’”