TYLER Perry has been sued by a fellow actor over sexual assault and harassment claims which span across several years.
Derek Dixon has initiated a significant lawsuit against the 55-year-old media mogul after they collaborated on “The Oval,” a show created by Perry in 2019.
Allegations against Perry include sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual battery, as per court documents reviewed by The Sun.
His team have already denied all of the claims and labelled them “a scam”.
Court docs filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court claim Dixon and Perry first met at an event back in 2019.
Dixon alleges Perry hand picked him out of a crowd and asked for his phone number so he could get him an acting role.
At this point, the Californian actor had not had a role in any major acting project.
Shortly after their first conversation, the pair worked together in a show called “Ruthless”.
After filming wrapped up, Dixon claims Perry invited him round to his Atlanta home.
During the evening, Dixon says he became too drunk and asked to sleep in a spare room at Perry’s home.
The budding actor then alleges Perry followed him into the bed and started to touch his thighs, according to the court documents.
Dixon rejected any advances but claims the director remained interested.
Following the alleged incident, the pair would work together again a few months later when Dixon landed the role of Dale in The Oval.
Perry would then begin to send sexually suggestive texts to Dixon, the court docs state.
These allegedly included him asking about his sexual preferences.
Dixon said he found the messages were “strange and untowardly” but as he was new to the industry didn’t want to report them.
Dixon claims he feared his career would be over if he did voice his concerns at the time.
Instead, the actor says he responded by saying he wasn’t “the sexual type”.
These sexually charged messages would continue on for years, Dixon alleges.
At one point, their relationship even turned physical, according to the court documents, as Perry is accused of grabbing Dixon’s throat.
Then in June 2021, Dixon was again staying at Tyler’s Atlanta home when he was allegedly groped.
Dixon was staying in the guest house and wearing only underwear when he claims Tyler came in to the room to say goodnight.
The pair shared a hug before Perry allegedly pulled down Dixon’s briefs, grabbed at his backside and told him to “relax”.
According to the suit, Dixon filed a complaint with Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission in June 2024.
He would later quit The Oval as he stated he could no longer deal with the alleged sexual harassment.
Dixon is now suing Tyler and Tyler Perry Studios for quid pro quo over the accusations.
He is seeking $260million in damages.
Matthew Boyd, an attorney for Perry, responded to the complaint in a statement to PEOPLE.
He said: “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.
“But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
