Tyler Perry hit with $260-million sexual harassment lawsuit from ‘The Oval' actor
Tyler Perry is facing legal backlash to the tune of $260 million from an actor who appeared in his BET drama 'The Oval' and is accusing the media mogul of quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery and retaliation, among other counts.
Perry's accuser, actor Derek Dixon, filed his lawsuit against the billionaire film and TV producer in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday. The actor claims Perry leveraged his power and standing in entertainment 'to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic with Mr. Dixon — initially promising him career advancement and creative opportunities,' according to court documents reviewed by The Times. Tyler Perry Studios and the And Action production company are listed as co-defendants.
A representative for Perry did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment but his attorney Matthew Boyd dismissed the lawsuit as a 'scam,' according to a statement shared with multiple outlets.
'Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail,' the statement said.
In his 46-page complaint, Dixon says he met the 'House of Payne' creator in September 2019 when he was working as event staff for one of Perry's parties. The multi-hyphenate entertainer offered Dixon the chance to audition for his show 'Ruthless' a month after their first meeting. Perry claimed he would 'change [Plaintiff's] life' and offered him a small role in the TV series, 'setting up the first stage in a series of escalating quid pro quo offers,' the lawsuit alleges.
From January 2020 to June 2024, Perry 'sustained a pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault and retaliation,' the lawsuit alleges. Dixon appeared in 85 episodes of Perry's presidential drama 'The Oval' from 2021 to 2025, according to IMDb.
Dixon accused Perry of relentlessly probing him about his sex life, making suggestive comments and expressing jealousy about his interactions with other men during the duration of their work together. The complaint features multiple screenshots of alleged conversations between Dixon and the media mogul, including messages in which the director asks 'What's it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?' and likens the actor to a rose but says he is 'so blocked that you refuse to be smelt [sic] or opened.'
The lawsuit — which evokes cases against Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey and other high-profile Hollywood figures accused of sexual harassment — also details multiple occasions where Perry allegedly groped the actor. The first was in January 2020 when Dixon stayed the night in a guest room at Perry's home in Georgia and allegedly felt Perry 'slip into bed behind him and start rubbing Dixon's body around his inner thigh in a highly sexual and suggestive manner.' Dixon also accuses Perry of 'violently' grabbing his throat in March 2020, groping his buttocks in a trailer later that year, and pulling down his underwear and groping his buttocks again in June 2021.
The complaint underscores that Dixon repeatedly refused Perry's advances and walked a fine line, keeping his interactions with Perry professional but friendly enough to remain in his good graces. He claims the threat of Perry killing off his character constantly loomed over his 'Oval' tenure. In addition to casting Dixon in his series, Perry also expressed interest in helping the actor develop a show, the lawsuit says.
Dixon distanced himself from Perry after the alleged June 2021 assault, the lawsuit says, but the producer's 'fixers' reached out with a new storyline for his 'Oval' character and a pay raise. They also allegedly told Dixon he could not tell his castmates about the new perks.
Perry allegedly continued to ask Dixon about his sex life through the years that followed and in March 2024 plans to pitch Dixon's show began to fall apart. After Perry offered Dixon a writing spot on one of his series in June 2024, Dixon 'woke up and realized Perry was never going to be serious about helping Dixon' grow his career, the lawsuit says.
Dixon claims he reported the alleged sexual harassment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but the complaint was not investigated. Dixon left 'The Oval' and Perry allegedly retaliated by telling Dixon he could say only that he was taking medical leave. 'Defendant made the leave of absence unpaid and therefore terminated Plaintiff's employment causing Dixon additional loss of income and insult,' the suit says.
The lawsuit also includes allegations of work environment harassment, workplace gender violence, sexual assault, negligent retention and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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