Tyler Perry is being sued by actor Derek Dixon, who played the character Dale in Perry’s series The Oval and its spin-off, Ruthless. Dixon is reportedly seeking at least $260 million in damages, alleging both harassment and assault, among other accusations.
Why is Tyler Perry getting sued?
On June 13, actor Derek Dixon’s legal representatives filed a lawsuit against Tyler Perry in the Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing Perry of sexual assault. The case’s official briefing reads, “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,” as per AP News.
Dixon’s lawsuit alleges that the actor was first noticed by Perry in 2019, when Dixon was a member of the event staff at one of Perry’s parties. Dixon was then cast in The Oval’s spin-off series, Ruthless, before moving to The Oval. The lawsuit alleges that Perry used the threat of killing off Dixon’s character as a way to maintain an uncomfortable working relationship of “sexual aggression” with him, stating, “Mr. Perry made it clear to Dixon that if Dixon ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendoes, Dixon’s character would ‘die.’”
The lawsuit further alleges that Perry assaulted Dixon on several separate occasions, including an incident where Perry “forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothing, groped his buttocks, and attempted to force himself on Dixon.”
Perry’s attorney, Matthew Boyd, has denied all of the allegations against Perry. Boyd responded to the lawsuit by stating, “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.”
