A brilliant speech from a brilliant man.
Terry Crews is a former NFL athlete, a Hollywood actor and one of the biggest stars on television today.
He is also six foot three, 245 pounds and a fitness enthusiast.
On top of that already impressive CV, he has recently become one of the most vocal advocates of the #MeToo movement in America.
Crews himself was sexually assaulted by a successful Hollywood agent in 2016 while at a party with his wife, and has gone on to discuss the incident in detail since.
On Tuesday, Crews testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging them to enact the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights across all 50 states in America.
In an extremely personal statement, Crews talked about his difficult upbringing, stating that: “As a child, I watched my father violently abuse my mother. Using his power and authority to dominate her.”
He also recognised the difficulty that so many of those who come forward having been sexually assaulted face, saying: “This is how toxic masculinity permeates culture. As I shared my story, I was told over and over that this was not abuse… That this was just horseplay. But I can say, that one man’s horseplay, is another man’s humiliation.
Clip via C-SPAN
Perhaps the strongest moment of the video comes when Crews, close to tears, says: “I’m not a small or insecure man, but in that time, in that moment, I have never felt more emasculated.”
Rapper 50 Cent is currently facing backlash for his response to the speech, following a number of distasteful Instagram posts, in which he mocked Crews for not fighting back.
Crews responded to the Instagram posts, stating: “I think I prove that size doesn’t matter when it comes to sexual assault.”
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