Terry Crews Speaks Out On “Jimmy Kimmel Live” About Why He Stopped Watching Porn

Terry Crews Speaks Out On “Jimmy Kimmel Live” About Why He Stopped Watching Porn

Beloved actor, activist, and former athlete, Terry Crews, speaks up about the harmful effects of porn.

During a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, it was reported that Terry Crews, the actor, talked about themes in his new audio memoir, Stronger Together, which he recorded alongside wife Rebecca King-Crews, including the framework of how he views his former porn addiction.

When Jimmy Kimmel jokingly asked if Crews misses watching porn, Crews said, “Not anymore — there were times when I did. I’m good now!” Crews told Jimmy Kimmel after the host jokingly asked whether he missed watching porn.

Crews went on to explain that “once you know what it does,” it then becomes easier to understand the damage it can do, as well as handle any fallout.

“The trick is, you think it’s great,” he said. “Everything works for you until it doesn’t, and that was one of the reasons I really wanted to get out there”. (See the clip for yourself on YouTube)

Another stand-out quote from his interview:

“But I have to tell you this … people think it’s a willpower issue, but it’s not. It’s literally a lack-of-information issue,” Crews said. Then Kimmel and he briefly talked about the negative effects of porn on consumers. But this isn’t the first time he has sounded the alarm on porn.

(See - Why Terry Crews encouraged people to have a #PornFreeQuarantine in 2020)

Last year, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crews spoke up about the harms of porn as people became more isolated in their homes. At the time, Pornhub and other porn sites like it ramped up their marketing game and gave out free premium site subscriptions.

During his Instagram live last April, Crews talked about how he was exposed to porn at a young age, like so many people are, and how it negatively affected him for years afterward.

He explained how the age of first exposure has gotten younger and younger, so much so that the vast majority of people are exposed to hardcore internet porn well before the age of 18.

Crews also talked about how porn can cause consumers to view people as products, and he echoed the research that shows how porn can rewire the consumer’s brain to need more porn and more hardcore versions of it to get the same “high.”

After facing many years of addiction and a tumultuous marriage that almost ended in divorce due to his porn consumption, Crews was able to break free and go on to be the success that he is today. And now he wants other people to break free from porn, too, which is why he encouraged everyone to have a #PornFreeQuarantine.

“My Dirty Little Secret”

Crews first started being candid about his lifelong addiction to pornography in his book ‘Manhood’, published in 2014. He talked openly about how he was first addicted to porn at the age of 12, and how it continued all the way into adulthood, eventually deeply affecting his marriage to his wife, Rebecca.

Throughout the last years, Crews has utilized Facebook’s live video feature to talk to his 8 million+ followers about his “dirty little secret,” as he calls it. Crews has live-streamed more than 7 real talk sessions solely about his past struggle with pornography, how it affected his life, and how he broke free.

“This thing has become a problem. I think it’s a worldwide problem!” - Terry said in his first ‘Dirty Little Secret’ video in 2015. “Pornography really messed up my life in a lot of ways. Some people deny it and say, ‘Hey man you can’t really be addicted to pornography, there’s no way.’ But I’ll tell you something: if night turns into day and you’re still watching, you’ve probably got a problem. And that was me.”

He talked about how pornography consumed his life by becoming a secret that he was able to keep hidden for years. Despite being able to keep it a secret from everyone, he said that it started to corrupt his relationship with his wife.

“My wife was literally like, ‘I don’t know you anymore, I’m out of here’. This is a major, major problem, I literally had to go to rehab for it. My issue was, and is with pornography, is that 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.”

After some deep reflection and going to rehab for multiple issues—porn being one of them—Crews was able to reconcile with his wife, and they’re happily married to this day. He encouraged porn consumers to put the issue out into the light and break free by no longer keeping it a secret.

He concluded by saying he didn’t quit porn to get his wife back, but to get his life back.

Why This Matters

We applaud Terry Crews for choosing to use his globally recognized platform to talk about the real scientific harms of pornography. His words have been a huge step in the right direction for our generation that has grown up with unlimited access to internet porn, and he’s an anti-shame light in the darkness.

By having people like Terry be bold enough to take a stand on this issue, we are seeing conversations getting started and perceptions starting to change. Join Terry Crews and learn about the harmful effects of porn!