In late 2019, Gabrielle Union was fired from the NBC show “America’s Got Talent” after just one season as a judge. This was surprising, as Union had quickly become a very popular face on the show due to her highly engaged social media following and her honest but compassionate critiques of contestants. Union isn’t the first judge to experience termination from the show, as the show has rotated its women judges and its hosts regularly since it began; the only consistent stars on the show have been judges Howie Mandel and Simon Cowell.
However, shortly after her firing, reports surfaced that Union had reported racist and sexist occurrences behind the scenes at the show to NBC, including allegations that Union herself had been targeted due to her hairstyle choices and her complaints about jokes and impressions by celebrity guests and contestants of the show, which she felt were racially insensitive. It is unclear what was done following the initial reported concerns, and there was suspicion that her termination may have been retaliatory. Once the reports surfaced, NBC issued a statement to the public that they were working with Union and her representatives to investigate the issue. This was met with concern and skepticism, because NBC has previously mishandled reports of harassment and misconduct by big stars of its network, like Bill Cosby and Matt Lauer. Subsequently, the Hollywood Actors Labor Union (SAG-AFTRA) issued a statement that they would be conducting their own simultaneous investigation into these reports with full cooperation from Union and her representatives. Gabrielle Union stated she and other members of the AGT team had agreed not to talk publicly about the reported issues or their experiences any further until the investigation was complete.
Recently, Terry Crews appeared on The Today Show, which airs on NBC, where he was asked about the investigation into Union’s allegations. Crews enthusiastically responded that he had never experienced any racism and believed the show was the most diverse environment he had ever worked. He went on to say that as a man, he could not and would not speak about sexism, that he had not been able to talk with Gabrielle Union about the issues since her firing from the show, and that his wife supported him in talking about his experiences being different from the reports which were circulating.
Terry Crews was almost immediately blasted for failing to show support for Gabrielle Union, especially after she had supported him previously when he reported a sexual assault he had suffered at the hands of a Hollywood executive. Crews was heavily criticized when he came forward with these allegations and many did not support or believe his claims. At that time, Crews specifically tweeted Union calling her “his sister” and stating he would never forget her support.
Many felt Crews’ statements on The Today Show were an indication that he had forgotten who was there for him when he was down and who supported him when he made allegations which did not align with the experiences of others in the same space and situation. Crews was called a hypocrite, and his allyship for Black women was called into serious question.
Since appearing on The Today Show, Crews responded to the criticism on Twitter by saying “There is only one woman [on] earth I have to please. Her name is Rebecca [King Crews, his wife]. Not my mother, my sister, my daughters or co-workers. I will let their husbands/boyfriends/partners take care of them.”His response was met with more disappointment and backlash.
Whether Crews was being blissfully ignorant of his male privilege or purposefully distancing himself from Union’s claims in order to ensure his position on the AGT team remained secure by his initial response during The Today Show interview is still up for debate. It is wholly possible that both are true. Either way, it is clear that Crews failed at allyship in his comments during his Today Show interview and, when confronted with his misstep, had a classic fragility meltdown.
In many of the exchanges I’ve seen and some I’ve participated in on this subject, a consistent question has been “Why is it wrong for Crews to speak up and out to say those weren’t his experiences?” and “Does being an intersectional ally mean that you have to silence yourself to avoid disagreeing with another?”
Where Crews went wrong in stating his experiences were different than Union’s was in not acknowledging that 1) it is wholly possible for two people of the same marginalized community to be in the same workplace and have totally different experiences and 2) it is quite common for Black men and Black women to have vastly different experiences because of the complexities of the intersection of race and gender. Further, he did not express that he specifically believed her, that he felt sympathy or empathy toward her experiences, or even that he wished the investigation would lead to a more inclusive environment on the show going forward.
Instead, Crews’ reaction seemed intentionally crafted to invalidate and diminish Union’s claims. These are not the actions of an ally, a caring coworker, and definitely not of a friend.
Crews’ reaction seemed intentionally crafted to invalidate and diminish Union’s claims. These are not the actions of an ally, a caring coworker, and definitely not of a friend. Share on XGiven that he knew he was doing the interview and that the question was likely to be asked, he should have been more prepared to provide a balanced, comprehensive answer. In this moment, he simply failed.
This doesn’t completely invalidate him as an ally or erase all the work he’s done for Black and women’s causes. That is the other lesson here. Allies will fail from time to time, when they are not actively working on anti-racism and anti-sexism efforts and when they don’t adequately prepare for responses to controversial questions.
This doesn’t completely invalidate him as an ally or erase all the work he’s done for Black and women’s causes. That is the other lesson here. Allies will fail from time to time. Share on XMy sincere hope is Terry Crews will see the error in his handling of this situation privately, then publicly apologize to Gabrielle Union, and ultimately become a stronger voice for intersectionality between Black men and Black women because of this. I also hope the NBC and SAG-AFTRA investigation gets to the bottom of whatever toxicity may be occurring behind the scenes at AGT and makes changes that the rest of us can see and emulate in our workplaces.
I am admittedly not very optimistic, though. Stay tuned.
