Terry Crews’ Controversial Tweet About ‘Black Supremacy’ Prompts Social Media Backlash

By Bryan Alexander – “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Terry Crews faced Twitter backlash Sunday after a tweet about race relations he meant to be inspiring turned to controversy.

As protests continued nationwide following the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody, Crews, 51, who has been an active voice calling for change on social media, tweeted, “Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together.”

The tweet suggesting “Black Supremacy” immediately went viral with both “Terry Crews” and “Black Supremacy” shooting to trending topics on Twitter, as social media users blasted the comment.

“Black supremacy?” tweeted actor Orlando Jones in response. “We represent 13% of US population, hold no institutional power & gaslight our coworkers. We got 99 problems and your math isn’t the only 1. #StrongerTogether.”

Writer-director Darryl Wharton-Rigby was one of many users who found Crews’ terminology offensive and confusing on a day in which Republican Sen. Mitt Romney marched with Black Lives Matter protesters in Washington, D.C.

“We have officially entered The Twilight Zone on a day when Mitt Romney marches for #BlackLivesMatter and Terry Crews does the thing he does….” Wharton-Rigby wrote.

Author Frederick Joseph tweeted, “Every time I think Terry Crews has done the worst, he always does more.”

Twitter user @TheRickyDavila wrote, “Terry Crews is bizarrely talking about Black Supremacy, something that doesn’t exist, whilst Mitt Romney protests against racism. Today is giving me a massive headache.”

After receiving backlash, Crews clarified his tweet on Monday.

“Please know that everything I’ve said comes from a spirit of love and reconciliation, for the Black community first, then the world as a whole, in hopes to see a better future for Black people,” he wrote.

Following Floyd’s death, Crews placed an emotional video on Instagram.

“First of all my heart is broken,” Crews said in the video. “George Floyd looks like me. George Floyd could be me. I could easily, easily be that man on the ground with that police officer’s knee on my neck. That could easily be me.”