Terry Crews criticised for claiming boys without ‘maternal and paternal love’ are malnourished

Terry Crews has been championing conversations surrounding male mental health. However, he has recently apologised after he landed himself in hot water following a string of tweets that seemed, to his critics, to "gender love".

In a now-deleted tweet, he said that children without both maternal and paternal parents are "severely malnourished".

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor began by criticising a New York Times op-ed titled 'Why Does Obama Hate Black Boys?', arguing that such a piece should have been written by a man, not a woman.

Sharing the piece on Twitter, he wrote:

If a successful black man can’t advise the black male youth of the next generation, who will?

THE STREET. That’s who.

In a string of follow-up tweets, he added:

Another thing that bothers me is that this OP-ED was written by a WOMAN about how how [sic] boys should be taught to grow into successful young men. How would she know?

MEN NEED TO HOLD OTHER MEN ACCOUNTABLE.

He continued: "You can speak with us – just not FOR US. There is a big difference."

Following backlash for his tweet, he picked up the conversation over the weekend:

I’ve reiterated many times that same sex couples and single parents can successfully raise a child. But I believe paternal AND maternal love are like vitamins and minerals to humanity. No matter where you get that paternal and maternal love. MY purpose is to give paternal love.

In response, Twitter user @jakesherondale pointed out that "love is not gendered. A child will not starve with only one gender loving them".

To that, he wrote: “But they will be severely malnourished.”

Though he later deleted the tweet, people online have launched into a debate about what he said.

Some people disagreed.

Others didn't think the backlash was warranted.

After days of back-and-forth with both supportive fans and critics, he eventually invited people who didn't like him to utilise the unfollow button.

And Terry went on to make another "controversial" statement: "As a human being there are things you can only get from your mother."