Actor and game show host Terry Crews has faced criticism over assumptions about his wife’s race. He clarified that his wife, Rebecca King-Crews, is biracial and was raised by a Black woman, despite having fair skin. The two have been married for nearly three decades.
During his interview on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, Crews shared that even after 40 years of being with his missus, people still approached him about her racial identity and he always has to convince people that she is a sista.
“She’s Black, yes, Black momma … white daddy and been raised like that, but again, just cause she don’t have that kind of look, her momma is Black,” the Friday After Next star said.
He also highlighted that his wife was from a predominately Black city.
“She’s from Gary, Indiana, bruh. My wife was Miss Gary, Indiana 1984. And Gary, Indiana, is like Flint,” Crews continued. “Ain’t nothing but Black people. And she was raised in Black culture, so it wasn’t like she was raised in the outskirts.”
Even though Rebecca grew up in Gary, she did not meet Crews until his sophomore year at Western Michigan, where she served as a music minister at a church near his school. They tied the knot in 1989, three years before he entered the NFL.
Following Terry’s professional football career from 1991 to 1997, he transitioned into acting.
In 2010, the world got to know his wife and family (five children and later their one grandchild) when they appeared in a reality series titled “The Family Crews.”
Many on social media commented on his need to clarify his wife’s race.
“Why [does] it matter the race of his wife who cares if she’s white/black,” one X user asked.
. @TerryCrews explains why people mistake his wife for being White:
“She’s black, yes, Black momma White daddy … She’s from Gary, Indiana, bruh. My wife was Miss Gary, Indiana 1984. And Gary, Indiana is like Flint. Ain’t nothing but Black people.” pic.twitter.com/nCzMzUAWNR
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) March 6, 2024
“Knowing that his wife is biracial actually makes all that smoke Terry Crews had for Black women on here a couple years ago look even worse,” one other social media user posted.
Knowing that his wife is biracial actually makes all that smoke Terry Crews had for Black women on here a couple years ago look even worse. pic.twitter.com/HOamM1kWEe
— BlacKanSeyKo (@BlackXtian) March 7, 2024
Crews came under fire in 2020 when critics claimed he dismissed Gabrielle Union’s claims of racism on the show “America’s Got Talent” when she served as a co-host. Crews in fact said in a January 2020 interview on the “Today” show that the allegations of racism on “AGT” were made anonymously, not by Union — at that point the claims were from a Variety story citing an unnamed source — so he could say only that his experience as an “AGT” co-host had been positive.
Many pointed to this to claim he has an issue with Black women. In the interview with Sharpe, he also addressed how he apologized to Union and her husband, Dwyane Wade. His wife was there also to help mend the wound.
