Terry Crews is standing by his criticism of Black Lives Matter, and it got him into hot water with CNN’s Don Lemon.
On Monday, the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star appeared on Lemon’s show to talk about the backlash his tweets have received — tweets in which Crews stated “#blacklivesmatter doesn’t turn into #blacklivesbetter,” and that he stands by his “decision to unite with good people, no matter the race, creed or ideology.”
RELATED: Terry Crews Addresses Backlash Over ‘Black Supremacy’ Tweet On ‘The Talk’
Are all white people bad?
No.
Are all black people good?
No.
Knowing this reality- I stand on my decision to unite with good people, no matter the race, creed or ideology.
Given the number of threats against this decision-
I also decide to die on this hill.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) July 4, 2020
Speaking to Lemon, Crews claimed that BLM activists are taking an overly antagonistic approach, “Black people who are talking about working with whites and other races are viewed as sell-outs. They are called ‘uncle toms’.”
He called the more radical Black Lives Matter protesters “militant,” warning that the approach could turn into a form of Black supremacy.
“Black people need to hold Black people accountable. This is Black America’s version of the #MeToo movement,” he said.
When Crews took issue with Black Lives Matter not focusing on crime within the Black community, Lemon responded, ‘If someone started a movement that said ‘Cancer matters,’ and then someone came and said, ‘Why aren’t you talking about HIV’ – it’s not the same thing.”
On Twitter, many took Lemon’s side in the exchange.
It’s really sad cuz Don Lemon was actually trying to save Terry Crews; he was literally talking over him to drown out the foolishness 😆😆😆 pic.twitter.com/KwXklOiocO
— Black Wolverine (@TheKolaNut) July 7, 2020
Don Lemon OWNS Terry Crews during Interview.😂Crews is a Multi-Millionaire with a Bad AOL Internet Connection😂, but DL breaks TRUTH out on TC. Terry Crews is ECHOING what ALL Alt-Reich White-Supremacists Echo – 'what about Black on Black crime' – 'All Lives Matter'. LOL #Pitiful pic.twitter.com/GOc1xBjIjA
— @TelemaqueDenVe (@Telemaque71) July 7, 2020
Some took aim at Lemon for his positions.
THREAD: On @CNNTonight, Terry Crews explained to host @donlemon why he was rightly critical of the Black Lives Matter organization. "It was almost a supremist move where they viewed that their black lives mattered a lot more than mine." But lemon got combative real quick pic.twitter.com/TkgfU5ZAxu
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) July 7, 2020
And others were critical of how both men framed the conversation.
Terry Crews thinks BLM is a black suprenacist movement, Don Lemon thinks BLM is strictly about police brutality, and most of y’all think that the Movement for Black Lives is the same org/movement as Black Lives Matter. So much ignorance, very dangerous ignorance.
— Noah Williams (@xnoahx99) July 7, 2020
Meanwhile, some felt the whole thing was just a distraction from the more serious issues.
so which is it Don Lemon or Terry Crews? i’m so fucking confused at this point.
Also, maybe this is why we should just keep talking about why they need to ARREST THE COPS WHO KILLED #BREONNATAYLOR pic.twitter.com/cUihxIvDdt
— doodle-nightly live #DJ JAM 8pm EST-hedz (@smallpencilclub) July 7, 2020