Terry Crews calls to 'defund Pornhub' on Twitter and confuses users

Brooklyn Nine Nine star Terry Crews has called for adult website Pornhub to be defunded on Twitter. Tagging an organisation that raises “awareness on the harmful effects of porn & exploitation”, Crews’ tweet has since garnered over 57k likes and counting.

He used the tweet to promote Fight The New Drug, which is a non-profit that aims to “provide awareness of [pornography’s] harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.” The organisation claims not to be affiliated with any religion or political party.

The tweet appeared to confuse users in the comments, with some asking if it was “satire” of the recent calls to defund the police in the United States.

Others also asked if Pornhub was “publicly funded” or “getting government money” in response.

One wrote, “I’m pretty sure it’s self sustaining and Taxes do not go towards an online pornographic streaming service.

Other Twitter users - including adult film star Jenna Jameson - supported Crews’ call while others defended the website and claimed it gave "safe platforms to sex workers."

This is not the first time that Crews has criticised pornography publicly, with the star revealing previously that he had battled porn addiction (which led him to seek out treatment in rehab).

At the start of lockdown this year, he hosted a “No Porn Quarantine” Instagram Live where he discussed his experience and called for people to resist the urge as companies such as Pornhub gave away free premium memberships.

He said ahead of the Live, “This virus and the quarantine has really brought the porn corporations out and they’re giving this stuff away in an attempt to get you hooked so let’s talk about it. Some people don’t even think you can be addicted to pornography.”

Crews said in a series of Facebook videos in 2016 that his addiction to pornography had “really, really messed up my life.” He said that he had kept it a secret from his longtime wife Rebecca King Crews (who he married in 1990) and that he began to objectify the people around him.

He said, “Some people say, 'Hey, man ... you can't really be addicted to pornography.' But I'm gonna tell you something: If day turns into night and you are still watching, you probably have got a problem. And that was me.”

“It changes the way you think about people. People become objects. People become body parts; they become things to be used rather than people to be loved,” he continued, saying that his addiction had “affected everything.”

He described the addiction as “another brick that came between me and my wife”, saying, “My wife was literally like, 'I don't know you anymore. I'm out of here.' I had to change. I literally had to go to rehab for it.”

Crews said in 2016 that he had not watched pornography for several years.