Tyler Perry in Hot Water Over $260 Million Sexual Assault Lawsuit

(The Post News)– Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry is faced with sexual assault allegations from former “The Oval” actor Derek Dixon.

On June 13, Dixon filed a $260 million lawsuit in a Los Angeles court, claiming that while he worked on Tyler Perry’s BET series “The Oval”, the producer established an uncomfortable working environment by a “sexually exploitative dynamic”, and as a result, he is suing him for battery, workplace harassment, and sexual assault.

According to the 46-page lawsuit, the two met in September 2019, where Dixon allegedly helped organize a party for Tyler Perry Studios. After countless texts promising a job that will “change his life”, Perry then allegedly offered Dixon the role of Dale in “Ruthless”. Months after taking on the role, Dixon claims to have received an invitation to Perry’s Atlanta home in January 2020, where he was sexually assaulted.

Disturbed by the incident, Dixon cut off all communication until he was offered a recurring role on “The Oval”, which he claims to have taken because he’d been looking for “the big break” into his acting career. However, during a script read in March 2020, he realised the ambiguity surrounding the fate of his character. To him, it implied that Perry would use professional retaliation to kill his character off if he did not comply with his unwanted sexual advances.

The harassment allegedly continued on into 2021, with Dixon claiming that he would get sent pictures of his body via text with suggestive comments from Perry. The actor reportedly forfeited nearly $400,000 when he left the final season of the show. The lawsuit further alleges that as a result of the unending abuse, Dixon suffered high levels of stress, insomnia, and stomach issues.

In response to Dixon’s allegations, Perry’s attorney Matthew Boyd issued a statement on the 17th of June implicating Dixon of “fabricating” and devising a scam to tear Perry’s reputation down. He went further to say that the filmmaker would “not be shaken down” by the “fabricated claims”.

Tyler Perry himself has not commented on the issue.

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Lumka Noruwana

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