Quick Links
Married since 1989, Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews and Rebecca King have been through some rough patches in their relationship.
They first met at Western Michigan University in the 1980s. Despite being together for more than three decades and sharing five children, the couple has hit the rocks on several occasions, particularly when Crews was battling his addiction to adult entertainment, of which he has spoken up at length.
The actor — who opened up on having been touched by a male executive in 2016 and subsequently was recognized as one of MeToo's Silence Breakers — received the support of his wife through his recovery journey.
Terry Crews Addiction Issues
The former football player and actor and Rebecca publicly revealed he had been addicted to pornography in his 2014 autobiography, titled Manhood: How to Be a Better Man or Just Live with One.
The addiction had been going on for years before then. When Crews finally mustered the courage to tell his wife he had cheated on her, he had hadn't yet shared about his addiction.
"19 years ago, he admitted to me that he had been unfaithful," Rebecca told Oprah Winfrey in 2019, saying she asked Crews what else was there.
"And he started to admit stuff to me, like going to strip clubs, and going... he went to a [a woman of the night] and I said, 'Okay. I'm glad you told me that, but take your s**t and leave.'"
Recognizing he needed help is what saved Crews' relationship, as he confirmed in a series of videos about his condition.
In 2016, Crews got candid about having battled his addiction in a Facebook Live. "It really, really messed up my life, in a lot of ways," Crews said of his addiction, clarifying he was "six or seven" years sober.
"Some people say, 'Hey, man ... you can't really be addicted to pornography.' But I'm gonna tell you something: If day turns into night and you are still watching, you probably have got a problem. And that was me."
Terry Crews' Issues Changed His Relationship
In the clips, Crews admitted that watching pornography constantly had changed the way he related to other people, his wife included.
"It changes the way you think about people. People become objects. People become body parts; they become things to be used rather than people to be loved," he said.
The actor has described adult entertainment as an intimacy killer that had come in between him and Rebecca.
"Every time I watched it, I was walled off. It was like another brick that came between me and my wife. And the truth is, everything you need for intimacy is in your (partner)."
Terry Crews' Wife Rebecca Wanted To Leave Him
Once she found out, Rebecca was upset and considered ending the marriage.
"My wife was literally like, 'I don't know you anymore, I'm out of here,'" Crews explained.
"When I first confronted Terry, we had it out," Rebecca said in an interview with Dr. Phil in March 2018.
"He told me about the [woman of the night], he told me about all the p*rn things... I said, 'You know we're done, right?'" she said, adding that Crews wasn't expecting her to leave after he had come clean about his addiction.
"When he saw that I meant business, I think it really challenged him."
Crews sought professional help ("I literally had to go to rehab for it."), but has since explained he didn't make that decision to win his wife back.
"I did not get help so that I could get my wife back. I got help because I needed it," he said.
Terry Crews Said He Had To Earn Rebecca's Forgiveness
Crews and his wife managed to stay together once he got help for his addiction. The Deadpool 2 actor has often spoken up of the support received throughout his recovery, having nothing but praise for how Rebecca decided to get back with him.
"I had to earn it, and still I'm earning it," Crews said on Dr. Phil.
On her part, Rebecca has said she's proud for her husband for having recovered.
"I have nothing but pride for my husband. This is a subject worth fighting over. We spent a lot of our own money to fight. Which we got back. I got to see my husband fight for his rights in a town where he had to put up with a lot of stuff to work. It was a great moral victory," Rebecca told Unpopular magazine in December 2018.
Crews' experience with addiction has deeply changed his marriage, with Rebecca acknowledging that things could've been very different had they chose to separate.
"I watched my husband transform — I have the softer, gentler, kinder Terry now," Rebecca told People in 2021.
"I'm thankful because our story could have gone another way, had he not decided that we were worth fighting for."
Terry Crews And His Wife Practiced Abstinence For Three Months
In 2015, the actor revealed how he and Rebecca managed to reconnect after his struggle with addiction.
"90 days — no sex, all relationship, all talk, all cuddle," he told HuffPost at the time.
"I found that at the end of that 90 days ... I knew who she was, and it wasn't about 'Let's go out because I know I'm gonna get some sex later.' It was like, 'Let's go because I want to talk to you. I want to know you.'"
"You're not looking for p*rn. You're looking for someone to know you and love you at the same time," he added.
"That's all you want — every man out there. But he's scared sometimes. That's why men put up big fronts."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGirnqqirnqzscGempyZXaC2r7OMnKmer6NiuqK%2B0aKYoJ1dlrmuu9KtZJ2hpqS%2FpLHDZpidnJmYwaq7zWg%3D