“America’s Got Talent” host Terry Crews opened up about Will Smith’s slap-gate with The Hollywood Reporter, admitting he considers both close friends with some bold words about Rock. “What Chris did, by just deciding to hold everything together, it actually, I think in a lot of ways, saved Hollywood. Because if there would’ve been a brawl on that stage, I don’t know if Hollywood would’ve ever gotten any respect again, you know? It’s hard to even imagine what would’ve happened,” he explained.
The “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star went on to explain that where he grew up it was typical to fight violence with violence, but noted, “The true definition of toughness was what Chris did in taking a punch and then holding everything together.” Crews said Rock — who he worked alongside on “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Longest Yard” — keeping his cool was a “miracle.” “I’m very thankful to Chris, but also I understand Will. I’m not [one] to demonize Will at all because I was there,” he added.
Crews previously opened up about his relationship with Rock and how easy going he was on the set of “Everybody Hates Chris,” revealing the comedian let them do what worked for them while playing the characters based on Rock’s family. “He never came in and said, ‘My father wouldn’t do that!’ or this and that. He let us be who we were, because that’s why he hired us,” he told IGN in 2006.
