TERRY CREWS has apologised for his recent comments regarding same-sex parenting.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor had commented on a New York Times article written by Derecka Purnell. Purnell criticised a speech Barack Obama recently gave to a group of young black men at a town hall for his mentorship initiative My Brother’s Keeper.

“Programs like My Brother’s Keeper insist on making better versions of Trayvon Martin, the black victim, instead of asking how to stop creating people like George Zimmerman, the racist vigilante,” she wrote. “Rather than encouraging them to dismantle the systems that deepen wealth inequality, Mr. Obama tells black boys to tuck their chains.”

Crews disagreed with the writer’s stance and tweeted that “paternal AND maternal love are like vitamins and minerals to humanity”.

A Twitter user responded to this, writing: “love is not gendered. a child will not starve with only one gender loving them,” to which Crews replied: “but they will be severely malnourished.”

The actor received backlash from many within the LGBTQ community, leading Crews to apologise once on Twitter and then again after talking with his co-star Stephanie Beatriz, saying he gained a whole new perspective on the matter.

“Had a great talk with @iamstephbeatz this morning on set that shed a lot of light on why the LBGTQ community were hurt by my comments,” Crews wrote on Twitter.

“I want to apologise for anyone who was triggered or felt targeted. I was speaking out of my very personal experiences as a Black father.”

He continued: “And while these experiences for me are very true and real, these can differ greatly from the experiences of others. Being able to sit with @iamstephbeatz gave me a perspective I had not seen before.

“I believe men need to be more vulnerable in order to fix the many problems that we created and this starts with me.

He added: “we don’t always have to agree, but we must always listen. I love every person on earth, and want to see every man, woman and child flourish.”