Rich Fury/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews says the show’s writers are scrapping previously written episodes of its upcoming eighth season and starting over again to address racism in the United States.
“We’ve had a lot of somber talks about it and deep conversations and we hope through this we’re going to make something that will be truly groundbreaking this year. We have an opportunity and we plan to use it in the best way possible,” Crews told Access Hollywood on Tuesday.
“Our showrunner, Dan Goor [and the show’s writers] had four episodes all ready to go and they just threw them in the trash,” he continues. “We have to start over. Right now we don’t know which direction it’s going to go in.”
“This is an opportunity right now for us all to unite and get together and understand what this is and that we have to battle this together,” he added.
Recalling his own experiences with racism, the 51-year-old actor told Access Hollywood, “I’ve had guns pointed at me by police officers in L.A. This was before I was famous. The thing is, they had the wrong guy.”
“It’s something that every black man has been through and it’s hard to really try to get other people to understand,” he says. “I have to say, right here, what is going on right now is Black America’s Me Too movement. We always knew this was happening, but now white people are understanding.”
The global protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died while in police custody.
Earlier this month, Goor and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Stephanie Beatriz made a donation of $100,000 to the National Bail Fund Network, which supports those protesting police brutality around the country.