{"id":212,"date":"2025-06-20T21:06:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T21:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T21:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T21:06:19","slug":"tyler-perrys-260-million-lawsuit-who-is-derek-dixon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Perry\u2019s $260 Million Lawsuit: Who Is Derek Dixon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Photo: Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

Filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry <\/a>was hit with a $260 million sexual-assault and harassment lawsuit on June 13. Perry \u2014 the man behind the popular franchise Madea, shows like Duplicity and Sistas, and a slew of Netflix originals<\/a> \u2014 is being sued by actor Derek Dixon. The two first met when Dixon worked at the opening party for Tyler Perry Studios. In his lawsuit, Dixon alleges that Perry encouraged him to try his hand at acting, offering him TV roles in Ruthless and later The Oval. Dixon accepted the jobs but is alleging that\u00a0during his employment, Perry sexually harassed him, groped him, and then retaliated against him when he did not reciprocate Perry\u2019s \u201cunwanted advances,\u201d according to the complaint.\u00a0Perry, who is reportedly worth $1.4 billion, said through his attorney that he let someone get close to him but that he now considered the relationship was \u201cnothing more than setting up a scam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dixon, who became a a series regular on Perry\u2019s show The Oval, is suing\u00a0for sexual and work harassment along with sexual battery and sexual assault as well as other claims and seeking $260 million in damages, according to his 46-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles earlier this month. Dixon says Perry first took interest in him in September 2019 while he was working at Perry\u2019s studio party. When Dixon said he wanted to be an actor, Perry encouraged him and later cast him in two shows on BET and BET<\/a>+: The Oval and Ruthless, an Oval spinoff. In it, he played\u00a0\u201ca gay, homeless, and desperate store clerk who had to sleep with one of the other characters for a place to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dixon alleges that once in his employ, Perry used his \u201cconsiderable influence in the entertainment industry to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic.\u201d Dixon claims that what started as a promise of \u201ccareer advancement and creative opportunities, such as producing his pilot and casting him in his show\u201d became a place of \u201csexual harassment, assault and battery, and professional retaliation when Dixon did not reciprocate Mr. Perry\u2019s unwanted advances.\u201d Dixon is also suing Tyler Perry Studios Production Services.<\/p>\n

Dixon alleges that on one occasion, he was urged to stay the night at Perry\u2019s house after he had too much to drink. Without pajamas, Dixon said he went to sleep in his underwear. That night, he alleges\u00a0that Perry snuck into his bed and started rubbing his body around Dixon\u2019s inner thigh. Dixon says he immediately jumped out of bed, told Perry he \u201cwasn\u2019t sexual,\u201d and alleges that Perry told him to turn around so he could see him naked in his underwear.<\/p>\n

In another instance at Perry\u2019s house, Dixon alleges Perry encouraged him to try a weight monitor in the guest bedroom, but he needed to undress for it to work. After Dixon was undressed, he alleges Perry pulled his underwear down and sexually groped his buttocks and told him to \u201crelax\u201d and to \u201cjust let it happen,\u201d according to the complaint. Dixon claimed he diffused the situation by telling\u00a0Perry he couldn\u2019t do anything sexual because he was hungry. When Perry left to order food, Dixon claims he locked himself in the bathroom.<\/p>\n

Dixon also alleges that Perry repeatedly talked to him about sex and asked him about his sexual preferences. He claims he worked with the constant fear of losing his job if he did not engage with and endure Perry\u2019s sexual harassment, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

In one message, Perry allegedly stated, \u201cWhat is going to take for you to have guiltless sex? Have y\u2019all found that yet in therapy?\u201d When Dixon told him that he wasn\u2019t into sex, Perry allegedly texted him: \u201cI would hope that you would let someone hold you and make love to you. You are missing the best years of your life my friend. Trust me. I hope you get past the block in your mind soon,\u201d according to the complaint. Perry allegedly also texted, \u201cI haven\u2019t been touched in months,\u201d Dixon states in his complaint.<\/p>\n

Through his attorney, Matthew Boyd, Perry released a statement saying that while Dixon and Perry were close, it now \u201cappears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.\u201d Boyd said Perry will \u201cnot be shaken down\u201d and that they are \u201cconfident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dixon hasn\u2019t posted anything on social media about the lawsuit or Perry\u2019s reaction, but his lawyer, Jonathan J. Delshad, shared the following statement: \u201cI can only assume that Perry\u2019s attorney did not bother to read the text messages sent by Tyler Perry prior to making those comments. Knee-jerk comments made without looking at the evidence is a way to enable further sexual harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images Filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry was hit with a $260 million sexual-assault and harassment…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[334,171,337,336,50,338,173,335,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-derek-dixon","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-explainer","11":"tag-lawsuits","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-the-law","14":"tag-tv","15":"tag-tyler-perry","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114717733210113990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}