When Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross reassembles The Expendables next year for the fourth instalment of the action franchise, the team of mercenaries will be without one of its original members as Terry Crews has revealed that he has turned down the opportunity to reprise the role of Hale Caesar.
Crews recently filed a lawsuit against agent Adam Venit and talent company William Morris Endeavor, after earlier alleging that he had been groped by a Hollywood agent during a party in 2016.
And now, during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, Crews revealed that he has passed on The Expendables 4 after producer Avi Lerner contacted his manager and asked him to withdraw the suit, warning of “troubles” if he did not comply
“No,” replied Crews when asked by the Senate if he has a role in the fourth movie. “Simply because this same producer is under his own investigation. “Abusers protect abusers — and this is one thing I had to decide, whether I was going to draw the line on. Am I going to be a part of this or am I gonna take a stand, and there are projects I had to turn down.”
As Crews noted in his comments, Lerner himself is currently the subject of a civil suit relating to sexual harassment, hostile work environment and gender discrimination – allegations he has described as “all lies” and “a joke”.
The Expendables 4 is currently without a release date, but production is slated to get underway early in the New Year once Stallone finishes work on Creed II and Rambo V.
Via Deadline
