Actor Derek Dixon has taken legal action against Tyler Perry, claiming that the famous filmmaker sent him sexually suggestive text messages. These alleged messages have now been made public by foreign news outlets after Dixon filed a $260 million lawsuit.
Dixon, who appeared in the BET series The Oval, filed the lawsuit on June 13. He says Perry made sexual advances toward him that were not welcomed.
In the court papers, Dixon claims Perry used his influence to give men roles, gifts, money, and other things. He says Perry would then pressure them into sexual activity by making them afraid of losing these benefits if they refused.
According to Dixon, he first met Perry in 2019 while working at an event company in Atlanta. He says Perry gave him a role in the series Ruthless and soon began sending him messages that talked about sex. Some of the texts reportedly included questions like “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” and “I love how I feel right now, but I don’t like being horny.”
Dixon says things got worse in January 2020. He was invited to Perry’s home and decided to stay overnight because he had too much to drink. He says that while he was sleeping, someone got into bed with him and started touching him. When he turned around, he says he saw it was Tyler Perry.
After this incident, Dixon says he stopped communicating much with Perry. But later, Perry gave him a role on The Oval. Dixon says he stayed on the show even though Perry continued to ask him personal and sexual questions. He was afraid of losing his character, who was a homeless, gay store clerk shot at the end of the season.
Near the end of filming, Dixon says Perry invited him to his trailer for drinks. While there, he claims Perry pinned him against a wall and groped him. He says he didn’t know if there was anyone at the studio he could report it to, like a human resources team.
Dixon also claims that in June 2021, Perry touched him again in a sexual way after they had a meeting about a show idea Dixon pitched. Soon after, Perry’s team reportedly offered Dixon a pay raise of $6,000 per episode and said Perry wanted to buy the rights to his show. But that deal fell through because Tyler Perry Studios had existing contracts with Paramount Global.
Later on, Dixon reported the sexual harassment to official agencies. He decided not to return to The Oval. According to him, Perry warned him that he would be breaking his contract if he told others on set why he was leaving.
After all this, screenshots of explicit messages that were supposedly exchanged between Dixon and Perry have now been shared by the media, adding more attention to the case.
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