Actress Gabrielle Union feels America’s Got Talent host Terry Crews was not a friend to her during her firing from the show and subsequent complaint against NBC.
On season 14 of AGT, Union appeared as a judge, by November 2019, she says she endured a toxic and work culture while working on the popular reality competition series set. Fellow judge Julianne Hough also decided not to return.
Union made allegations that she experienced various racial criticism, including comments that her hairstyle choices were “too black” for the show’s core demographic, a critique she received over a dozen times.
During a recent Podcast episode on “Jemele Hill is Unbothered,” the host questioned Union’s personal experience with Crews amid his controversial series of tweets on the Black Lives Matter Movement. Crews remained silent as Union exposed the network and even praised NBC on its Today show while gushing about his positive experience.
“People hit me all day long and are like, what’s happening? And the only thing I know for sure is that Terry Crews gets three checks from NBC. So, I don’t know if being worried about job stability — which listen, we all know that if you speak up about racism and White supremacy, you absolutely can be shown the door,” Union responded. “I don’t know if that’s the motivation.”
Union said her complaints of racism were undercut by critics who noted the other black cast member.
“I was like, ‘No, I was on there — with Terry Crews,’” she said sarcastically. “Based on his recent actions, do you really think Terry Crews was an ally, was helpful, was a sounding board? I think Terry Crews is showing us who he is and what he does during times of adversity, and it’s not solidarity.”
Representation for Crews had no comment when Fox reached out.
On the other hand, Crews was very vocal in 2017 when it came to his own #Metoo encounter when he came forward with his own allegations of assault, a time Union says she supported. Unfortunately, she feels Crews was not there for her.
“Not to say if I offer you solidarity, I expect you to be the getaway driver during a bank robbery — that’s what he made it sound like in one of those series of tweets. If you saw something, say something. If you didn’t have my experience… you also have an option to say, ‘I believe Gab, I just had a different experience.’ End of story,” Union shared.
“You don’t have to do a press tour where your sole objective is to discredit and malign me. You know, I’ve been in Hollywood a very long time. There’s very little that surprises me, but that was very disappointing for sure.”
“At the end of the day, the work that I am doing to make sure that NBC is a more fair and equitable place of employment will benefit you as well,” Union said of the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star. “So it’s OK to eat your cereal and let me do my thing and get out of the way. If you’re not going to help, then get out of the way. If you don’t feel financially comfortable, or spiritually comfortable or you flat out disagree, but at the end of the day, he will benefit from a safer, more equitable workplace from what I stuck my neck out to do and got fired for, you know? Instead of actively working against progress.”
Union is sure that Crews will come to regret the side he chose to be on as a result of the ongoing legal battle.
“Since I’ve been so vocal about what happened, the floodgates have opened. This reckoning is just hitting,” she explained. “There is so much more that is coming… I have a feeling he will probably regret it for a thousand reasons, very soon.”
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