Madea actor Tyler Perry was accused of sexual harassment in a new $260 million lawsuit launched by Derek Dixon, an actor on The Oval.
The 46-page complaint, which was filed earlier in June in Los Angeles County Superior Court and seeks punitive damages, accused Perry of sexual misconduct.
“Mr. Perry’s success has led him to believe that money and influence can get him whatever he wants,” the complaint alleged, adding: “Mr. Perry sought the one thing his wealth and influence could not purchase — a sexual relationship with a man who would remain silent.”
The lawsuit alleges that Dixon and Perry shared several drinks together at Perry’s home in Georgia in 2019. Perry was told to stay in the guest room, according to the complaint, where Perry is alleged to have entered Dixon’s bed and begun groping him.
“Dixon kept informing Perry that he was not into sex in order to keep Perry at bay while at the same time not insulting the person who was dangling his career in front of him,” the suit claimed.
The suit also accused Perry of groping Dixon during two instances in 2020 during a cast trip to the Bahamas and again at a party in 2021 where Perry was said to have removed Dixon’s pants to “vigorously grab, grope, and play with Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual manner.”
“Dixon was naked, stunned, and seized by tremendous fear,” the suit claimed.
Tyler Perry's response to the suit
A lawyer representing Perry claimed that Dixon had deliberately tried to get close to the defendant “for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam. But Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
The suit also alleges Perry began sending Dixon text messages that were sexually explicit in nature, which were said to include probing into Dixon’s sexual preferences.
While Dixon’s role on The Oval was scripted to be shot at the end of the season, the suit alleged that Perry told him his role may appear in future seasons if he did a “good job.”
“Dixon immediately understood his job security depended on his ‘relationship’ with Perry,” according to the suit, which also claimed that Dixon was instructed to keep the nature of their interactions and relationship secret.