An actor and screenwriter accused Tyler Perry of sexual harassment, claiming in a lawsuit that the media tycoon repeatedly made unwanted advances and tried to cover up an assault with an offer to develop a show.
The 46 -page complaint, filed last week at the plaintiff of the Superior Court of the Los Angeles County, seeks punitive damage for a total of $ 260 million and compares the accusations with those of other known figures of the entertainment industry accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.
“The success of Mr. Perry has led him to believe that money and influence can get him what he wants,” says the complaint, added: “Mr. Perry sought the only thing that his wealth and influence could not buy, a sexual relationship with a man who would remain silent.”
In a statement, a Perry lawyer accused the plaintiff, Derek Dixon, of trying to approach the defendant “so now it seems to be more than establishing a scam. But Tyler will not be agitated and we trust that these statements made of harassment will fail.”
According to the lawsuit, Perry offered Dixon, who at that time worked for an event company, his first interim role in 2019. A few months later, he invited Dixon to his home in Georgia and served several drinks before telling the candidate for actor to stay in his guest room, according to the suit.
Perry suddenly appeared in Dixon’s bed and started touches, according to the suit.
“Dixon continued to inform Perry that he was not in sex to keep Perry at bay and at the same time not insulting the person who was hanging his career in front of him,” says the demand.
Perry continued to send text messages to Dixon about his sex life, according to demand, which says that the more the actor ignored, Perry, the more aggressive he turned. After Dixon left his job and assumed a role in Perry’s program, “The Oval,” says the demand, Perry would ask about the actor about his sexual preferences; continue sexually explicit rant; And call or send text messages to Dixon almost daily, treating it as your “pet”.
Dixon’s character in “The Oval” was written to receive a shot at the end of the season, but according to the demand, Perry indicated that he can survive the shooting and appear in future seasons if Dixon did a “good job.”
“Dixon immediately understood his job security depending on his ‘relationship’ with Perry”, according to the lawsuit, which adds that Perry warned Dixon not to discuss any of his conversations with partners or told them about their friendship.
The suit accuses Perry with Dixon touching twice in 2020, even during a casting trip to the Bahamas. In 2021, while he was in Perry’s house, the filmmaker supposedly knocked down Dixon’s underwear and “began to grab, he groped and play with Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual way. Dixon was naked, stunned and used by a tremendous fear.”
After the alleged assault, the lawsuit says that one of Perry’s lawyers told Dixon that “Christmas arrived early” because he had done a good job in “The Oval.” He was given an increase for the next season, according to the demand, and Perry wanted to buy the rights to shoot a pilot for a script that Dixon had written, called “lose it.”
The demand says that Dixon fought with the decision about whether to make public accusations of sexual assault or accept Perry’s money. Finally he “leaned for pressure,” says the demand, and tried to advance in his career.
While Perry bought the script rights and filmed it, according to the demand, “I had no intention of producing” losing it. “Perry never made any effort to sell the show or buy it.
The show was not developed, according to the demand, and Perry then offered Dixon a position as a writer in one of his shows. Dixon rejected Perry and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. The state of that complaint was not clear immediately.
