Entertainment executive Tyler Perry has been named as a defendant in a civil action filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on Friday, in which the plaintiff seeks damages in the amount of $260 million based on allegations of sexual harassment.
According to court documents reviewed by Daily Mail, the plaintiff, actor Derek Dixon, alleges that Mr. Perry, 55, engaged in a pattern of sexually inappropriate conduct and sought to initiate an unwanted sexual relationship during Dixon’s participation in two BET productions under Perry’s direction: Ruthless and The Oval.
In response to the filing, counsel for Mr. Perry, attorney Matthew Boyd, issued a statement to the Daily Mail on Tuesday, asserting: “Mr. Perry will not be extorted. We are confident that these baseless and fabricated allegations will not withstand judicial scrutiny.”
Counsel for Mr. Perry, attorney Matthew Boyd, offered the following characterization of the plaintiff: “This is an individual who cultivated a relationship with Mr. Perry for what now appears to be a calculated effort to perpetrate a fraudulent scheme.”
The Daily Mail reports that it has sought comment from representatives for Mr. Perry, the BET Network, and Mr. Dixon, including outreach via Mr. Dixon’s Instagram account.
In the complaint filed on behalf of Mr. Dixon, the plaintiff alleges that Mr. Perry initially extended assurances of career advancement and professional collaboration, including offers to produce Dixon’s pilot and cast him in future projects. However, the complaint asserts that these purported opportunities were conditioned upon the plaintiff’s submission to a “coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic.”
The suit further alleges that Mr. Perry subjected Mr. Dixon to an escalating pattern of sexual harassment, assault, and battery, as well as acts of professional retaliation following Mr. Dixon’s refusal to engage in or reciprocate the alleged advances.
According to the complaint, the parties first met in September 2019 at a social gathering held at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Subsequent to that encounter, Mr. Perry is alleged to have initiated communications of a sexually suggestive nature via text message.
The plaintiff, who portrayed a character named Dale on both The Oval and Ruthless, claims that Mr. Perry promised him a transformative role in Ruthless, beginning in November 2019. The complaint alleges that the misconduct culminated in January 2020, when Mr. Perry allegedly sexually assaulted Mr. Dixon at his private residence.#newsafro_
