Terry Crews Forgives Abusive Father: ‘If It Wasn’t for You, I Wouldn’t Exist’

Published: March 19, 2026

By Michaela Gordoni

WHITE CHICKS star Terry Crews and his family had a hard time with his father growing up, but when God taught him to forgive, it repaired their relationship.

“My father was a very, very abusive man,” Crews told Joel Osteen on TBN. “One of my earliest memories is me being around 5 years old and walking out and hearing my parents arguing and watching my father ball his fist up and hit my mother in the face as hard as he could.”

That influenced Crews all of his life and made him feel like he wanted to get revenge. But that “revenge” was never settled, even when he thought he got it by punching his father when he was older.

“I had to really address this revenge thing. ‘God, tell me what to do…How do we do this?’” he said.

God told him to forgive his father and others who he’d been holding resentment towards.

“I said, ‘I got to forgive him.’ I called him up, I said, ‘Big Terry, thank you so much for having me, because if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t exist.’ And he cried and he apologized, and he said, ‘I’m sorry for putting you through what I put you through,’” he recalled.

@doac.clips

Did he do the right thing?😱@Steven Bartlett #diaryofaceo #foryou #foryoupage #podcast #podcastclips #fyp #diaryofaceopodcast #stevenbartlett #terrycrews

♬ i was only temporary (Sped Up) – my head is empty

When Crews saw him again, he gave him a big hug.

“What I thought was going to work was the beat down, but what really worked was the forgiveness and the hug,” he said.

This is one of Crews’ biggest life lessons, and his addiction to pornography is another one.

“I…established a pattern where anytime I was dealing with anxiety, I acted out with pornography,” Crews wrote in his memoir. “On the one hand, I felt bad because I knew I shouldn’t do so, but at the same time, it was exhilarating, a rush, like taking a drug.”

Eventually, he even cheated on his wife. He was wrecked with guilt and shame. He was alone in a hotel when God spoke to both him and his wife, who were in different states.

“I felt the room’s [walls] kept getting closer and closer,” he recalled. “Hear me when I say this, God said, he said ‘If you don’t tell her, I’m done with you. I’m giving you one shot.”

His wife heard God tell her that Crews had cheated on her, and she called him.

“My wife was literally like, ‘I don’t know you anymore. I’m outta here.’ And that changed me,” he said. “Because you realize: Yo, this is a major, major problem. I literally had to go to rehab for it…Once I was aware of what it was doing to me, it changed me.”

Now, Crews lets his story be a lesson to others. Forgiveness, repentance and honesty all lead to a more peaceful life with Christ.

Questions or comments? Please write to us here.