The William Morris Endeavor talent agency (WME) submitted court papers this week in response to Terry Crews‘ lawsuit claiming that they acted “decisively” when Crews claimed he had been sexually assaulted by one of their agents.
Crews claimed that during a Hollywood party in 2016, WME agent Adam Venit grabbed him inappropriately. But when the actor reported the alleged assault to WME, Crews said that the agency did nothing.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Crews says WME had ignored Venit’s “long history of bizarre behavior” because he had done so well for the agency representing an A-list roster of talent. Although WME did ultimately suspend Venit for a month and hit him with a demotion, Crews doesn’t believe that is enough to make up for what happened to him.
The incident
Crews, 48, has already filed a police report claiming that Venit, stared at him during an industry party “like a rabid dog, sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth provocatively.”
He said that he pushed Venit away after the alleged encounter and then called out to comedian Adam Sandler, “Adam, come get your boy! He’s grabbing my nuts.”
READ MORE: TERRY CREWS SAYS HIS FAMILY IS IN JEOPARDY
Sandler called Crews when he was on his way home from the party and expressed his shock at Venit’s behavior, asking if Crews was alright. Crews replied that he was shocked that he had been molested.
Crews also called his agent, who worked at the same company as Venit, to tell him what happened. Hours later, Venit called him to apologize for his behavior, claiming that he was not himself.
Crews also said that he met with WME’s chairman Ari Emanuel, who apologized for Venit’s behavior and listened to Crews’ worries about retaliation, promising that Venit “did not have that level of power despite his title as head of the Motion Picture Department.”
In the lawsuit, Crews claimed that he has suffered psychologically and was worried about the effect Venit could have over his career.
The agency’s side
After weeks of silence, the agency has now issued a response saying that they didn’t just stand by and do nothing as Crews claims.
“The facts are these: The day after the alleged incident, Mr. Crews mentioned it to no one at WME other than his agent, who nevertheless immediately raised it with Mr. Venit,” the agency told The Hollywood Reporter.
READ MORE: TERRY CREWS FILES POLICE REPORT
“That same day, Mr. Venit called Mr. Crews and apologized. Mr. Crews accepted the apology and then told the only two WME employees to whom he had spoken about the incident that everything was okay. That was the last mention Mr. Crews made of the incident to anyone at WME for nearly 18 months — during which time he remained a WME client. That is no surprise since, as Mr. Crews admitted in his later Tweets, he had ‘decided not to take it further’ and ‘let it go.’”
WME also implied that it was unfair for Crews to put himself in the #MeToo movement.
By going public with his story, WME believes that Crews added himself in the same category as the men and women who have repeatedly endured sexual harassment and assault in order to keep their livelihoods intact while powers that be looked the other way.
The agency went on to say that it had acted swiftly by meeting with Crews and encouraged him to tell his story when he went public. Therefore, they claimed, they were not liable for what happened.
WME has since suspended Venit without pay for one month and demoted him.