An actor who labored on the Tyler Perry-created TV drama “The Oval” has filed a lawsuit alleging Perry leveraged his trade energy to repeatedly sexually assault and harass him whereas retaining him quiet.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by actor Derek Dixon, who appeared on 85 episodes of the BET collection, seeks at the least $260 million in damages.
“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,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was filed Friday and first reported Tuesday by TMZ.
Perry’s lawyer, Matthew Boyd, mentioned its allegations are false.
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Boyd mentioned in an announcement Tuesday. “But Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
The lawsuit says that Perry first observed Dixon in 2019 when Dixon was a part of the occasion employees at a Perry occasion, and later supplied an audition.
Dixon would first seem in a small function on the Perry collection “Ruthless” before getting the bigger role on the political drama “The Oval.”
Perry quickly started sending undesirable sexual textual content messages to Dixon, in response to the lawsuit, which incorporates screenshots of a number of of them.
“What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” one of many messages says.
The lawsuit says Perry supplied Dixon an more and more outstanding function on the present as his sexual advances grew to become extra aggressive.
The actor says he tried to stay pleasant whereas sustaining boundaries.
“Dixon did his best to tiptoe around Mr. Perry’s sexual aggression while keeping on Mr. Perry’s good side,” the lawsuit says. “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 says Perry finally sexually assaulted Dixon on “a number of events,” including an instance where he “forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothes, groped his buttocks, and tried to drive himself on Dixon.”
Dixon clearly advised Perry “No,” however was initially ignored till he was capable of de-escalate the scenario and alter the topic, in response to the lawsuit.
The following day, Perry apologized, and advised Dixon he would work with Dixon on a TV pilot Dixon was searching for to provide.
Dixon later acquired a increase that the lawsuit suggests was a part of an try and maintain him quiet.
He mentioned the concern of his character dying saved him quiet as meant.
Perry additionally produced and purchased the rights to the pilot, known as “Losing It,” however the lawsuit alleges Perry had no intention of promoting the present and was utilizing it just for leverage over Dixon.
The lawsuit describes a number of different assaults, together with one the place Dixon was staying in a visitor room of Perry’s home when Perry climbed into mattress with him uninvited and commenced groping him, the lawsuit alleges.
Dixon would finally transfer from Atlanta, dwelling to Perry’s manufacturing studio, to Los Angeles to place distance between the 2 of them.
Dixon in 2024 filed a criticism with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and when that did not end in any motion from the present’s producers, he give up.
The Associated Press doesn’t sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly as Dixon has.
“The Oval” is considered one of many tv collection govt produced by, written by and directed by the 55-year-old Perry, who first grew to become often known as creator and star of the “Madea” movies and has since constructed a serious manufacturing empire in TV and flicks. As an actor he has additionally appeared within the movies “Gone Girl” and “Don’t Look Up.”
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