Bombshell Tyler Perry lawsuit

Tyler Perry is denying claims that he made unwanted sexual advances toward actor Derek Dixon, as alleged in a massive $260 million lawsuit that was filed last Friday. In the lawsuit, Derek accuses Tyler Perry of sexual assault during his time on The Oval and Ruthless, two shows Tyler executive produced, wrote and directed.

Derek alleges that Tyler used his influence in the entertainment industry to create a "coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic" during the time he worked on the two shows. He says that he was promised a successful acting career but was then subjected to "escalating sexual harassment, assault and battery, and professional retaliation" when he didn't reciprocate Tyler’s "unwanted advances".   

Derek describes meeting Tyler back in 2019 during an event in Atlanta. He claims Tyler picked him out of the crowd and asked for his phone number, saying he might have a role for him. Over the course of the next several months, he says he and Tyler discussed Derek’s acting career. But at some point, Tyler began making a number of sexual comments and remarks about his desire for a sexual relationship. Derek says Tyler went as far as to repeatedly make sexual advances that he continued to reject.

In order to put an end to the harassment, which culminated in Tyler interrogating Derek about his sexuality in a trailer before allegedly fondling him against a wall, he left his role on The Oval and rejected an offer Tyler made to work as a writer. 

"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," the lawsuit alleged, adding that Tyler "always held this over Mr. Dixon's head, implying that 'Dale' would survive if Dixon kept Perry 'happy'".

Days after the lawsuit was filed, Tyler’s lawyer, Matthew Boyd, made the following statement to the BBC, calling the lawsuit a ‘scam’:

"This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam. But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”

This is certainly one of the largest sexual assault lawsuits to come out of the entertainment industry in recent years, at least as it pertains to the amount of damages. For reference, Cassie’s lawsuit against Diddy was a mere $30 million in comparison – and that was centered around an entire decade of abuse. But despite the money difference, the cases share similarities, not only with each other but with many other sexual assault or harassment lawsuits that have been filed over the years, including power, wealth, threats to one’s career and allegations of control. 

But what makes this case a bit different is that these are allegations against someone who hasn’t publicly come out as a gay man. And there’s a racial component to this that absolutely does play a role in who people choose to support.

Currently, the sentiment online, especially among urban news and media outlets, like Hollywood Unlocked, for example, seems to be that the text messages that Derek provided as evidence in his lawsuit, which you can see here, are not enough to change the public perception of Tyler Perry; comment sections don’t seem to suggest that people believe that Tyler said anything that may allude to him not being straight, either. While it’s evident the two did in fact discuss sex, some parts of the internet don’t seem satisfied that these constitute evidence of “unwanted advances”. 

This is interesting because despite being a well-respected media mogul, in the past, Tyler has faced a great deal of criticism for his polarizing portrayal of Black women. This includes his most recent Netflix film, Straw, which landed the biggest Netflix movie audience of the year with nearly 50 million viewers in its second week, according to The Wrap. The movie stars Taraji P. Henson as a single mother in distress who goes to the extreme to try and secure financial help for her sick daughter. In fact, I am one of the people who has criticized him and I have written about his problematic portrayal in the past. Despite having the opportunity to pile on to Tyler Perry, there doesn’t seem to be any desire to do so.

And social media users are actually suggesting that the success of his latest movie is precisely what prompted Derek to file this lawsuit in the first place. While people aren’t unanimously suggesting the texts are damning, there are a few that are certainly a reason to give pause. In one, perhaps the one that sounds the most alarms for me at least, Tyler says this:

“If you let the cast know that you and I have a new friendship then you are opening yourself up to a lot of questions and foolishness. You want them to KNOW that you are there because of your talent and not because we have a friendship or because Tony got me to give you a job.”

This is where context becomes key. Because the first part of that message could be interpreted as a veiled threat, but coupled with the second sentence, it could also be a genuine piece of advice from one of the most qualified people to give it out.

This is particularly the issue that comes to light in cases like these. Where does mentorship end and where does power-wielding begin? Where does personal communication end and inappropriate exchanges begin? 

The other thing that needs to be considered is that the claimant in this case is a man, and therefore will undoubtedly have a more difficult time portraying himself as a victim, no matter how real his experiences may have been.

Tyler Perry may be winning in the court of public opinion, especially considering that over the course of his career, he hasn’t been plagued by a series of sexual assault or harassment allegations. But as we know, it’s not up to the court of public opinion or social media comment sections to determine the fate of this lawsuit, or whether Derek is in fact a victim and Tyler Perry his aggressor. It’ll be up to a court of law to make that decision. And how Derek may have felt is perhaps the most difficult thing to prove of all. Because so much about harassment can be invisible, as I’ve written before in my coverage of Cassie’s landmark lawsuit against Diddy. 

If Tyler is to learn anything from this lawsuit, ‘scam’ or not, it’s that some things are better not discussed through text. Or at all.