Tyler Perry has been sued for sexual harassment and assault by Derek Dixon, an actor on The Oval and Ruthless who alleges the entertainment mogul pinned him against a wall and groped him.
Dixon claims Perry has made several unwanted sexual advances on him since 2021, including one instance in which his clothes were forcibly pulled off in an attempted assault and another in which the mogul allegedly sneaked into bed with him. He accuses Perry of engaging in a pattern of exploiting male actors in his productions, leveraging his power in Hollywood to harass those in his orbit. For years, Perry has “been using his power and influence to molest, abuse, and sexually assault impressionable and vulnerable employees and actors who look to him for guidance and mentorship while pursuing their dreams,” according to the lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In a statement, Matthew Boyd, a lawyer for Perry, called Dixon an “individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.” He added, “Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Dixon brings claims for sexual harassment, battery and assault, among several others over workplace misconduct. He seeks at least $260 million.
In the lawsuit, Dixon says Perry recruited him in 2019 to act on Ruthless while working a party for an events company in Atlanta, home of Tyler Perry Studios. The mogul frequently mentioned sex in texts, according to the complaint, which includes messages in which Perry said, “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” and “I love how I feel right now but I don’t like being horny.”
The situation escalated in January 2020, when Dixon was invited to Perry’s home, the lawsuit alleged. At the end of the night, Dixon agreed to stay the night in a guest room after being told he was too inebriated to drive.
“Before he knew what was happening, Dixon felt someone else slip into bed behind him and start rubbing Dixon’s body around his inner thigh in a highly sexual and suggestive manner,” writes Jonathan Delshad, a lawyer for the actor, in the complaint. “Dixon turned around and saw that Tyler Perry was in bed with him.”
Following the alleged incident, Dixon largely ignored Perry until the mogul offered him a role on The Oval. He says he tolerated ongoing harassment in the form of questions about his sexual preferences out of fear that his character on the show — a gay, homeless store clerk who was shot at the end of the season — would be cut.
After the second-to-last day of filming, Perry invited Dixon to his trailer for drinks, the lawsuit alleged. Once there, Dixon claims that Perry pinned him against a wall and groped him, according to the complaint. He says that he wasn’t aware of a human resources department to report the incident to.
And in June 2021, Perry “began to vigorously grab, grope, and play with Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual manner” after the pair discussed a show Dixon pitched, the lawsuit said. After, the mogul’s “fixers” allegedly reached out to Dixon, who was offered a $6,000 per episode raise to return for another season of The Oval. He was also told that Perry wanted to buy the right to produce the pilot of his show, which ultimately wasn’t sold to a network because of Tyler Perry Studio’s pre-existing contracts with Paramount Global.
Dixon later reported the alleged sexual harassment to regulatory agencies. He declined to return for The Oval, which led to Perry telling him that he’d be in breach of his contract of he told others on staff why he quit.
