Tyler Perry is the latest high-profile figure to face accusations of sexual assault and harassment.
The powerful media mogul was sued by actor Derek Dixon on Friday for sexual harassment, assault, retaliation, and more, according to People, which obtained the filing. Dixon, previously a series regular on Perry’s television series The Oval, claimed that Perry sent him years worth of sexually charged messages and sexually assaulted him on more than one occasion.
A representative for Perry provided the following statement from Perry’s lawyer Matthew Boyd to the Daily Beast: “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” and added that “Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
The billionaire actor, producer and director owns one of the largest film studios in the country—Tyler Perry Studios—from which he cranks out TV shows and movies at rapid pace for his fiercely loyal fan base, after rising to fame from his portrayal of the fiery matriarch Madea. Despite consistently drawing mainstream critical pans for his work, Perry remains a stalwart in the industry. His latest film, Straw, is currently the number one movie on Netflix worldwide.
Dixon alleges that Perry used that power to pressure him into a sexual relationship in his quid pro quo harassment lawsuit, claiming that Perry “initially promised him career advancement and creative opportunities, such as producing his pilot and casting him in his show, only to subject him to escalating sexual harassment, assault and battery, and professional retaliation when Mr. Dixon did not reciprocate Mr. Perry’s unwanted advances.”
Dixon says in the lawsuit that he met Perry in 2019, after which Perry offered him a small role on his show Ruthless. Soon after, according to the filing, Perry began sending Dixon sexually aggressive text messages. To support his claims, Dixon provided the messages he claims show Perry writing to him, “No straight man would be going on walks with you or cooking dinner for you unless they wanted to f— you. I would f— you.” Allegedly, Perry also asks Dixon about his sexual preferences and tells him that he has sex with men over text.
Dixon’s lawsuit says that the messages were just the tip of the iceberg, as he claims Perry sexually assaulted at his home in January of 2020. He was then offered another role, this time a series regular on Perry’s The Oval. The actor claims that “Mr. Perry made it clear to Dixon that if Dixon ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendos, Dixon’s character would ‘die’ in the next season.”
Dixon also alleges Perry “aggressively groped Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual motion” in his set trailer when he worked on The Oval, and also during a cast trip to the Bahamas. Another assault allegedly occurred in 2021, when Dixon met with Perry about producing his pilot.
In 2023, Dixon says he left The Oval voluntarily to avoid further harassment. Leaving his job as a series regular cost him $400,000, he claims in the suit, but he’d allegedly suffered PTSD from the assaults, which caused him to suffer from “severe depression, anxiety, stomach pains, and nausea.”
All in all, Dixon is seeking $260 million for his claims against his former boss, which also include sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The post Tyler Perry Hit With Shocking $260M Sexual Abuse Lawsuit appeared first on The Daily Beast.
