Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews has apologised for comments he made earlier this week, in which he implied that children with same-sex parents were "severely malnourished".
The former NFL linebacker caused a firestorm after taking to social media in response to a New York Times op-ed about parenting, tweeting: “I believe paternal AND maternal love are like vitamins and minerals to humanity.”
It didn't take long for one of Crew's followers to point out that a child “will not starve” if they have same-sex parents, to which Crews responded: “but they will be severely malnourished.”
Having spent some time discussing the controversial remarks with bisexual Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-star Stephanie Beatriz, Crews later delivered an apology to those who were offended.
“Had a great talk with @iamstephbeatz this morning on set that shed a lot of light on why the LBGTIQ+ community were hurt by my comments,” he tweeted.
“I want to apologise for anyone who was triggered or felt targeted. I was speaking out of my very personal experiences as a Black Father.”
The actor added: “And while these experiences for me are very true and real, these can differ greatly from the experiences of others. Being able to sit with @iamstephbeatz gave me a perspective I had not seen before.”
Crews has previously been a vocal ally for members of the LGBTIQ+ community, encouraging Kevin Hart to apologise for his homophobic comments and speaking out about the importance of healthy masculinity.
