In a lengthy Twitter thread, actor Terrence Howard vented about what he said is a double standard in the U.S. that allows “abusive women” to “feel they can assault a man and not reap where they have sowed.”
The Oscar-nominated actor was previously accused of assaulting his ex-wives Lori McCommas and Michelle Ghent. Ghent recently dropped her 2015 lawsuit, which alleged that Howard committed “assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress as well as defamation.” In his tweets Saturday, Howard called these allegations “unsubstantiated half-truths.”
Howard, star of the Fox drama Empire, said he wrote his string of tweets to defend himself against allegations in the media that he abused his former spouses. He wrote: “I’ve never been abusive to anyone in my entire life.”
“When I say that I’ve made mistakes, it is not regarding violence but judgment. Trusting the wrong people,” he continued.
He went to allege that he had been the abused party, not his exes. “This double standard that has permitted abusive women to feel that they can assault a man and not reap where they have sowed is wrong!” Howard said. “The cyber space abuse and bullying that has gone unanswered has to come to an end!”
He described his arguments with his former spouses as altercations, which the media later painted as abuse, presumably because of his gender. “Having an altercation is very different than abuse… and for the record I never punched her in the face get the facts straight,” he said, referring to the time ex-wife Ghent showed off a black eye during his divorce proceedings.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.