CRUZ SAT DOWN WITH NBC NEWS WITH WHY HE HAS COME FORWARD AND WHY
HIS PERCEPTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
HAS SHIFTED OVER THE YEARS.
>> I WILL NOT BE SHAMED.
I DID NOTHING WRONG.
YOU HAVE TO KEEP TELLING
YOURSELF THAT UNTIL YOU BELIEVE
IT.
IT. AND I BELIEVE IT.
THE THING IS, THE PERPETRATOR
DID ALL THE WRONG THINGS AND I
DECIDED I WAS NOT GOING TO HOLD
ONTO THE SHAME AND ALL OF A
SUDDEN I WAS FREE.
WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE SHAME, YOU
ARE FREE.
ARE FREE. THE INSTRUCTIONS I WAS GIVEN,
I’VE SEEN IT AFFECT PEOPLE IN A
POSITIVE WAY.
POSITIVE WAY. IT DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY HELPED
ME TO GET THROUGH ALL OF THIS.
>> AND I REMEMBER YOU SAYING
THAT, YOU KNOW, GOING THROUGH
THAT EXPERIENCE INTEREST TALKING
ABOUT IT LED OTHER PEOPLE TO
REALIZE WHERE THEIR LINES HAD
BEEN CROSSED IN THE PAST.
DID YOU AFTER EXPERIENCING
SEXUAL ASSAULT REALIZE, OKAY,
NOW I’M FLASHING BACK TO THIS
INCIDENT, THAT INCIDENT.
THAT MADE ME UNCOMFORTABLE.
DID IT TRIGGER ANY MEMORIES FOR
YOU?
YOU? >> E ON, THE BEST WORD YOU JUST
SAID THERE WAS TRIGGER.
IT WAS A TRIGGER.
FIRST OF ALL, WHEN I READ THE --
THE RONAN FARRELL STORY ABOUT
ALL THE WOMEN WHO HAD BEEN, YOU
KNOW, SEXUALLY ABUSED AND
HARASSED BY HARVEY WEINSTEIN, I
SAID, MY GOD, THE ONLY WAY I
COULD REALLY PHRASE IT WAS PTSD.
PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WELL,IST NOT --
WHEN I SAY TRIGGER, IT WAS LIKE,
WAIT A MINUTE.
THAT’S ME.
THAT’S ME. THAT HAPPENED TO ME.
ONE THING I LOVE ABOUT WHAT’S
HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IS THAT
TYPICALLY THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN
LOOKED AT AS A WOMEN’S ISSUE.
GUYS ARE LIKE, YEAH, YEAH, IT’S
A WOMEN’S ISSUE.
WHAT HAPPENS IS, WITH ME, YOU’RE
FORCED TO LOOK AT THIS NOT 2-D
BUT NOW 3-D AND YOU HAVE TO SEE
THIS FROM THE OTHER SIDE.
ONE THING I FOUND IS THAT, YOU
KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE
FACTS, ONE IN SIX MEN HAVE BEEN
MOLESTED, ABUSED OR HARASSED.
IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE
YOU START TO REALIZE, THIS IS
NOT A WOMEN’S ISSUE.
IT’S A HUMANITY ISSUE.
IT’S ABOUT HOW ONE HUMAN BEING
SHOULD TREAT ANOTHER, PERIOD.
>> AND THAT’S SOMETHING A YOUNG
MAN, A SINGER AND ACTOR NAMED
RICKY GARCIA IS GOING THROUGH
RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW. HE ALLEGES HIS EX-MANAGER RAPED
HIM TIME AND TIME AGAIN FROM THE
AGE THAT HE WAS 12 AND EXERTED
THE SAME KIND OF CONTROL THAT I
THINK YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT.
IF YOU COULD TALK TO RICKY RIGHT
NOW AND SUPPORT HIM THROUGH THIS
TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO HIM?
>> RICKY, FIRST OF ALL, DO NOT
BE SHAMED.
BE SHAMED. YOU DID NOTHING WRONG WRONG.
I WOULD TELL RICKY, LOOK AT WHAT
HAPPENS
HAPPENS HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. YOU ARE THE MINOR.
YOU CAN’T EVEN GIVE CONSENT.
YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN?
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT IN THE WORLD
OF PROSTITUTION, THERE’S A
PHRASE CHILD PROSTITUTE BUT
THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE THEY
CAN’T EVEN GIVE CONSENT.
SO, AND THEN THE JOHN GETS A
FINE OR WHATEVER AND THEY SEND A
KID TO JAIL.
IT’S A WAY TO KEEP THIS SYSTEM
GOING.
GOING. EVERY TIME SAY WE DID NOTHING
WRONG AND PUT ALL THE SHAME
WHERE IT BELONGS ON THE
PERPETRATOR, IT GETS CORRECTED
DAY BY DAY, STEP BY STEP.
THAT’S WHAT I WOULD TELL RICKY.
YOU DID NOTHING WRONG.
>> THERE ARE A LOT OF MEN WHO
SAY, THERE ISN’T ANYTHING TOXIC
ABOUT MASS LYNNTYCULINITY.
WHAT’S YOUR RESPONSE?
>> IT’S THE SAME AS SAYING,
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS MOLDY
BREAD.
BREAD. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
FIRST OF ALL THERE’S BREAD AND
THEN THERE’S MOLDY BREAD.
THERE’S MASCULINITY AND THEN
THERE’S TOXIC MASCULINITY.
YOU’RE -- NOBODY IS SAYING -- I
LOVE BEING A MAN.
I LOVE MASCULINITY.
WHEN IT’S BAD, WHEN IT’S GONE
WRONG, WHEN IT’S MOLDY, WHEN
IT’S DIRTY, FIRST OF ALL, IT’S
NOT HELPING ANYMORE.
AND SO THIS IS THE THING -- YOU
TALK ABOUT ANYBODY WHO REALLY
SYMPATHIZES WITH THAT IS
PROBABLY GUILTY, FOR ONE, AND
TRYING TO ASUEDE THEIR OWN GUILT
BECAUSE WE ALL RATIONALIZE.
I HAVE TO SAY THIS.
I, FIRST OF ALL, ME, TERRY CREWS
WAS A TOXIC MAN.
>> REALLY?
>> REALLY? >> YOU CAN TALK TO MY WIFE.
I SPENT YEARS -- MY WIFE LEFT ME
AT ONE TIME BECAUSE I SAW
MYSELF -- I VIEWS MYSELF AS MORE
VALUABLE THAN MY WIFE AND KIDS
SIMPLY BECAUSE I WAS A MAN.
>> WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT?
>> FROM SOCIETY.
YOU LEARN THAT GROWING UP.
HEY, MAN, IT’S YOUR WORLD.
IF YOU DON’T CONTROL YOUR THING,
IF YOU DON’T CONTROL YOUR WIFE,
YOU DON’T CONTROL YOUR KID,
YOU’RE NOT EVEN A MAN.
YOU’RE WEAK.
YOU’RE WEAK. SO YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT THESE
RULES OF STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU SIGN UP
FOR SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY
YOUR OWN DEMISE.
BUT I WAS ONE OF THOSE GUYS.
UNTIL MY WIFE, THE COURAGE OF MY
WIFE, LITERALLY WOKE ME UP AND I
SAID, MAN, I’M IN THIS HOLE AND
I CAN’T GET OUT.
AND I -- I WAS DETERMINED NOT TO
DIE IN THAT --
>> ARE THERE OTHER MEN IN
HOLLYWOOD WHO HAVE COME OUT TO
YOU AND PROVIDED A LIFE LINE
AFTER YOU CRIED FOR HELP?
>> MANY, MANY PEOPLE.
I SHOULD NOT TELL YOU THE
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MEN
THAT HAVE COME TO ME AND SAID,
MAN, THIS HAPPENED TO ME.
>> PEOPLE THAT WE WOULD KNOW --
>> OH, VERY, VERY FAMOUS PEOPLE.
ALL THE WAY DOWN THROUGH
PEOPLE -- I MEAN, AND WHAT’S SO
WILD IS THAT THEY LET ME KNOW
HOW PREVALENT IT WAS AND --
REMEMBER NOW, WE’RE TALKING
ABOUT -- THESE ARE THINGS
EVERYBODY KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON.
ON. WE NEVER SAID ANYTHING.
>> WEINSTEIN.
>> WEINSTEIN. >> ALL THESE PEOPLE, HARVEY
WEINSTEIN TO BILL COSBY TO R.
KELLY, WE ALREADY KNEW.