WASHINGTON >> Terry Crews says a film producer said he could only return to the “Expendables” franchise if he dropped his sexual assault lawsuit against a Hollywood agent. The actor said it was an example of how “abusers protect abusers.”

Crews made the allegation today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Crews last year accused a William Morris Endeavor talent agent of groping him at a party.

At the hearing, he was asked if there had been any retaliation for making the sexual assault allegation.

He said “Expendables” producer Avi Lerner asked that the actor drop his case in order to appear in the fourth installment of the action film and warned of “troubles” if it wasn’t dropped. He has been in each of the previous films.

An email seeking comment from Lerner’s Millennium Films was not immediately returned this afternoon.