Health

Terry Crews Opens up About His Pornography Addiction

February 26th 2016

Terry Crews, the former football player and actor of Old Spice commercials and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" fame, is opening up about his addiction to pornography in a series of Facebook videos he's calling his "Dirty Little Secret."


Crews, who said that online porn "really, really messed up my life in a lot of ways," said that he is on a mission to share his personal story so others might address their own addictions to porn, too. Without vocalizing the problem, he says, the vortex of addiction only deepens — which, for him, meant hours upon hours of staring at a screen, and even threatened his marriage.

"By not telling people, it becomes more powerful, but when you tell, and when you put it out there in the open... it loses power," Crews says. "[Pornography] has become a problem, a worldwide problem."

The actor's videos — there are three so far with close to 3 million views collectively — highlight a controversial subject that has emerged and grown concurrently with increased access to technology and the internet. Some consider pornography addiction to be a concoction, or a fabrication employed by perverts looking to catch a break. But Google it and a number of sincere and earnest accounts of damaging porn addictions crop up — along with local listings for rehab clinics.


Crews' own account adds to the latter camp, and provides a firsthand account of how an unhealthy relationship with pornography can reshape and twist important aspects of someone's life — relationships, perceptions of self-worth, and even conceptions of gender equality both in and out of the bedroom.

The actor, who lauds his time spent in therapy for his recovery, encourages viewers to reach out to him with questions or concerns about both the recovery process, and taking the initial steps to even address their own "dirty little secret."

Share your opinion

Do you think that porn addiction is a legitimate condition?

No 13%Yes 87%