Tyler Perry was hit this week with a $260 million sexual harassment and assault lawsuit from “The Oval” actor and screenwriter Derek Dixon.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in Los Angeles, alleges the entertainment mogul promised Dixon career advancement during the time of his “sustained” advances and used his position of power to retaliate when they weren’t reciprocated.
“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 when Mr. Dixon did not reciprocate Mr. Perry’s unwanted advances,” the lawsuit reads. “These events occurred while Mr. Dixon was employed as a series regular on the Tyler Perry show ‘The Oval,’ and while Mr. Perry held direct control over his employment, compensation and creative opportunities.”
Matthew Boyd, attorney for Perry and his TPS Production Services, said in a statement to TheWrap that Perry will not be “shaken down” over fabricated claims.
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Matthew Boyd, attorney for Perry and his TPS Production Services, LLC, told TheWrap in a statement. “But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Dixon claims he met Perry at the opening night party for the Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios in September 2019 and remained in contact with the creator in the following months as Perry sent suggestive texts and assured him work was on the way. He soon cast the actor as a minor role in “Ruthless.” Dixon then states January 2020 was when he was first sexually assaulted by Perry in his home after a night of drinking — shortly before he was cast as a series regular in “The Oval.” The actor claims that Perry threatened to kill his character off after Season 1 of that series if he “ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendos.”
The suit, which included screenshots of text conversations between Dixon and Perry in which the producer allegedly pushed the merits of “guiltless sex,” expressed jealousy over one of the actor’s male friends and, in an instance where Perry had apparently been drinking, expressed that of the 600 people in his phonebook, he only wanted to talk to Dixon.
Instances of groping and sexual advances continued, Dixon claims, as Perry and he began early discussions of producing his own series, “Losing It.” One such instance saw Dixon staying in Perry’s guest house; upon going to bed, he claims, Perry asked him for a hug, pulled down his underwear and proceeded to “vigorously grab, grope and play” with him while Dixon told him he “didn’t want this” and “didn’t want to be naked.”
The actor claims that he has suffered from severe depression, anxiety, stomach pains and nausea, which led to the use of antidepressants and a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
More to come …
