Hollywood filmmaker and media mogul, Tyler Perry, is battling a $260 million sexual assault lawsuit filed by Derek Dixon, an actor from his BET drama sequence The Oval.
Naija Information studies that Dixon, who performed the character Dale, alleged that Perry blurred skilled boundaries and subjected him to harassment that left him residing in concern for his profession.
In his first on-camera interview with ABC Information on September 9, 2025, Dixon recounted disturbing encounters he claims occurred at Perry’s Atlanta residence.
“He pulled down my underwear and grabbed my buttocks,” Dixon alleged.
“I used to be underneath fixed stress, scared I’d lose my job or be killed off the present if I didn’t comply.”
Dixon, who joined Perry’s productions in 2020, mentioned the lawsuit seeks to seize each his monetary losses and to behave as a deterrent.
“A part of that quantity is my misplaced job, my misplaced earnings, the lack of a present. The opposite a part of that may be a deterrent for the way do you cease a billionaire who received’t cease themselves from doing this,” he mentioned.
Past harassment allegations, Dixon accused Perry of failing to observe by on a promise to supply a pilot he wrote. He claimed Perry not solely deserted the deal however nonetheless controls the rights to the work.
“By no means exploit somebody’s aspirations to coerce them right into a relationship. That’s unprofessional,” Dixon mentioned, explaining that his determination to go public was meant “to guard future generations of actors and creatives.”
Perry, who has constructed one among Hollywood’s most profitable unbiased studios, has strongly denied the claims.
His legal professional, Matthew Boyd, dismissed the lawsuit as baseless, describing Dixon as “a person who acquired near Tyler Perry for what now seems to be an elaborate rip-off.”
“Tyler won’t be coerced, and we’re assured that these unfounded harassment claims won’t succeed,” Boyd mentioned.
Dixon first filed a grievance with the Equal Employment Alternative Fee in January 2024 earlier than leaving The Oval later that 12 months. His lawsuit, filed in June 2025, has since intensified debates about energy dynamics, office harassment, and accountability in Hollywood.
To this point, Dixon stays the one publicly recognized accuser, whereas Perry has continued to disclaim all allegations.
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