Many of us have been following the Terry Crews sexual assault case for a while now. Right after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, Terry posted his story to Twitter about how a high-level agent at William Morris Endeavor grabbed his crotch at a party. Since those posts, Terry has sought justice, but none came. After a paltry ‘suspension’, his assaulter, Adam Venit, returned to his well-paid job with seemingly no more than a slap on the wrist. Terry left the agency and pursued legal action against Venit. The Los Angeles District Attorney declined to prosecute so Terry sued Venit and the agency for civil damages. All the while, Terry had to continue sending checks to Venit, who received royalties from when Terry was a client of WME. It was enough to make anyone sick. Throughout the ordeal, Terry maintained that this was never about revenge. WME and others tried to condemn Terry for not letting it go after he’s received his apology and Venit had been “punished.” Earlier this month, it was announced that Venit was resigning from WME and Terry had settled his case with them. Friday, Terry posted the apology letter he received from Venit – four months after he brought the incident to light – announcing that he’d accepted the apology now that Venit had resigned:
As for Venit’s apology, it’s not great. The part about him trying to understand who he was that made him act in such a manner appealed to my sense of compassion, if he was at all honest about that. But there are too many points at which Venit professed his own greatness and how this one small character flaw was just a hiccup in the Awesomeness that is Adam Venit. And personally, I take great exception that this jerk would put himself anywhere near the same playing field as Terry but that’s just me being protective.
Venit and WME thought Terry would back down, as evidenced when they threatened and punished him for pursuing the matter. Instead, Terry stood up to them and found new, larger platforms, like the Congressional hearings, to speak out against their bullying tactics. As proof that Terry was not after revenge, the terms of his settlement were as follows
The settlement between Crews, Venit, and W.M.E. stipulates that the talent agency must pay $375,000 to Crews to cover his attorney fees, and that Venit must resign—with a provision that W.M.E. cannot rehire him in any capacity in the future. Additionally, W.M.E. has agreed to alter its employee conduct policy to adequately address sexual assault and battery by W.M.E. employees against clients, and now requires allegations to be reported to the heads of the firm’s legal and human resources departments. (Such a rule would have ensured that Crews’s allegation reached the higher-ups at the time of the alleged groping incident in 2016.) Additionally, W.M.E. employees must receive training regarding the new policies annually. An outside attorney never previously employed by the firm will also review and approve the policy prior to its implementation.
[From Vanity Fair]
I really hope Terry has gotten some peace from this. He has been a powerful voice in the #MeToo movement and has conducted himself with dignity. Let’s also hope that more victims receive some form of justice in their cases as well.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Twitter
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