Terry Crews under fire for calling kids of single-gender parents 'severely malnourished'

Terry Crews apologised on Twitter for his "wrong choice of words". Photo / Getty Images

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews is under fire for saying children of same-sex couples or single parents are "severely malnourished".

Crews was initially responding to a New York Times op-ed criticising Barack Obama's treatment of young black men. The actor said he was bothered that a woman had written the piece: "You can speak with us— just not FOR US. There is a big difference."

Another thing that bothers me is that this OP-ED was written by a WOMAN about how how boys should be taught to grow into successful young men.

How would she know?

MEN NEED TO HOLD OTHER MEN ACCOUNTABLE.

— terry crews (@terrycrews) February 24, 2019

After being accused of misogyny, Crews said: "No misogyny involved. Just reminding you that fathers are just as necessary as mothers. Especially for young men. And even if he doesn't have a father around— they need to see an example of what a good man is."

Then, in a since-deleted follow up tweet, Crews said he believed children needed both "paternal and maternal" love, and said that children being raised by one gender "will be severely malnourished".

Crews was slammed for the tweets, with one user saying: "your tweet about how kids need both maternal and paternal love was actually f****** offensive. one of my close friends has two mothers and she is doing just fine! please learn how to express your points better."

Crews held strong on his point, saying: "I explained it just like I meant to. You need both."

Later, he apologised for the controversial tweet in question, calling it the "wrong choice of words".

I agree. It was the wrong choice of words in response to another tweet. I apologize. The tweet was deleted. https://t.co/5oZF4pjZh1

— terry crews (@terrycrews) March 3, 2019

In 2017, Crews became a key male figure early in the #MeToo movement after publicly revealing he had been assaulted by another man.