Terry Crews found it difficult to transition from the NFL to entertainment before he became the affable “America’s Got Talent” host. When serving as the emcee for Saturday night’s Chrysalis Butterfly Ball, Crews spoke candidly about the financial struggles he and his wife experienced before breaking into the booming industry. The actor disclosed his personal financial issues, “After retiring from the NFL, I struggled to get to the next level where I wanted to be. I tried and failed many times to secure a job in entertainment, but there was no luck. And then my wife’s wedding ring took its fourth trip to the pawn shop. When that happened, she told me maybe it’s time you widen the search and do anything that could genuinely put food on the table.”
He decided to look for new work as a result of the experience and soon discovered a temp agency looking for people interested in manual labor tasks. Crews said, “After spending the previous night searching the couch cushions for change, I made the humbling decision to go in and register to be placed as a temp somewhere, anywhere. The temp agency sent me to a factory and when I arrived I was unceremoniously handed a broom and told to sweep the entire factory. I did that for eight hours, earning $8 for each of those hours.”
He further added, “Now, my pride left me feeling devastated. But something else happened that allowed me to reshape my mindset bit by bit. At the end of the day, I was able to put gas in the car and food on our table. I went to sleep exhausted, but I would wake up ready to take charge of my life.” The ball, which was held at the Petersen Automotive Museum, honored UTA agency Chris Hart as well as Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane from Lionsgate for their contributions to the group that seeks to help those who are homeless by providing job placement services. However, as Ike Barinholtz noted, the occasion also hit another high point as Hollywood industry leaders rejoiced at the conclusion of the WGA Strike.
“I see a lot of folks in this room who are working with studios and streamers and I just would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you guys for picketing,” the “Blockers” star, who is also a member of the WGA, laughed. “It was just a joke, guys. In the coming weeks and months when I’m pitching you TV shows and movies, just remember that tonight. I apologize.”
Along with Kerry Washington, Will Ferrell, Robert De Niro, and James Weaver, the actor also made an appearance in the Lionsgate Chiefs tribute video, which also included cutouts of Weaver’s producing collaborators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
“For the last 10 years, I’ve been supportive of organizations that focus on making lasting, generational change one individual at a time. Like everyone in this room, we want to support organizations that uplift hardworking people who need a boost to improve their own lives and circumstances that make it almost impossible to do so. Chrysalis is one of those extraordinary organizations.” In this acceptance speech, Drake stated that these organizations.“ In this acceptance speech, Drake stated that these organizations, “devote all of their energy and resources to underserved communities filled with extraordinary people with potential who are stuck in systems filled with barriers that hold individuals down instead of lifting them up.”
Drake said in conclusion, “Close your eyes, spin around, throw a dart and you would find a group of people who would give you a list of what’s not working without offering a single solution. What we should all be doing is asking a very simple question: what would you do together to solve a problem and lift our community? By being here tonight every one of you have answered that question,”
