Tyler Perry is facing a $260 million sexual assault suit filed by a former actor on his series The Oval.
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Derek Dixon, an actor who worked with Perry on two television series, was suing the mogul for sexual harassment, assault, and battery.
In a statement, Matthew Boyd, an attorney for Perry and TPS Production Services LLC, called the lawsuit claiming the actor was subjected to a “coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic” 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,” Boyd said. “But Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
The suit
The lawsuit, which features screenshots of their text communication, was filed on Friday in a Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Mr. Perry took his success and power and used his considerable influence in the entertainment industry to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic with Mr. Dixon — initially promising 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,” the lawsuit says.
Dixon said he met Perry in 2019, when he was working for an event company that organized a party for the Atlanta producer.
After exchanging numbers, Dixon claims he began to receive sexually suggestive text messages.
In 2020, Dixon was invited to Perry’s estate in Douglasville and stayed the night in a guest room, according to the lawsuit. During the night, Dixon alleges Perry got into the bed with him and began “rubbing Dixon’s body around his inner thigh in a highly sexual and suggestive manner,” according to the lawsuit. Dixon said he told Perry that he “wasn’t that sexual.”
Dixon ignored Perry’s texts after the incident, until Perry offered him a role in the political drama The Oval. Dixon also appeared in a small role in Perry’s series Ruthless.
The lawsuit says Perry offered Dixon a more prominent role on the show as the sexual advances became more aggressive.
The lawsuit details allegations of several other assaults.
According to the Associated Press, Dixon filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2024, but after no action was taken by the show’s producers, he quit.
Perry, who received a BET Lifetime Achievement Award last week, has built one of the most successful independent media empires by catering to Black audiences.
The prolific writer, producer, and director, who runs a 330-acre studio in Atlanta, currently has production deals with Netflix, BET, and Amazon Prime featuring a slate of long-running TV series and movies.
Follow Capital B Atlanta as we continue to follow this developing story.
