Terry Crews Parenting Controversy

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Overview

Terry Crews Parenting Controversy refers to actor and former athlete Terry Crews' controversial opinions on parenting, specifically that children will be "malnourished" without a paternal figure.

Background

Terry Crews has confidently voiced his opinions on the importance of fatherhood publicly since 2014 when he was a guest on The View (shown below).

On February 24th, 2019, Crews^[1] retweeted an OP-ED piece published in the New York Times^[4] entitled "Why Does Obama Scold Black Boys?" and responded with criticism saying, "Another thing that bothers me is that this OP-ED was written by a WOMAN about how how boys should be taught to grow into successful young men. How would she know? MEN NEED TO HOLD OTHER MEN ACCOUNTABLE." The tweet gained over 200 retweets and 2,900 likes in a week (shown below).

Developments

On March 1st, 2019, Terry Crews^[3] responded to backlash and accusations of misogyny over his February 24th tweet. Crews wrote "I've reiterated many times that same sex couples and single parents can successfully raise a child. But I believe paternal AND maternal love are like vitamins and minerals to humanity. No matter where you get that paternal and maternal love. MY purpose is to give paternal love." Twitter user @jakesherondale responded to Crews' tweet with "Love is not gendered. A child will not starve with only one gender loving them." "But they will be severely malnourished," was Crews' response (shown below). The tweet has since been deleted. On March 1st, Crews^[2] began responding to individual tweets (shown below, ).

His tweet was met with numerous angry responses by people saying that his tweet stigmatizes same-sex parenting. On March 2nd, Terry continued to post opinionated tweets saying, "I have another very controversial statement to make, and I will since I’m canceled anyway. As a human being there are things you can only get from your mother" (shown below, left). The tweet gained 1,400 retweets and 17,700 likes in two days. That same day, Terry Crews tweeted, "You apparently thought I was your puppet. But I have a mind of my own, and can see and think very clearly. The “phobic” tag is the most feared public tag next to racist. I don’t fear it because I am neither. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes" (shown below). The tweet accumulated 2,100 retweets and 12,200 likes in two days.

On March 3rd, Crews responded to @LindaRiley8's tweet, "My 12 year old twins are not ‘severely malnourished’ Please stop encouraging the bullying of children of #LGBTQ parents. #AmericasgotTalent Take note. Terry Crews Calls Children with Same-Sex Parents 'Severely Malnourished,'" with "I agree. It was the wrong choice of words in response to another tweet. I apologize. The tweet was deleted." His response received 160 retweets and 2,900 likes in a day. (shown below, right).