Hollywood Mogul Tyler Perry Faces $260M Lawsuit Amid Harrowing Harassment Claims

Actor Derek Dixon launched a lawsuit on June 13, 2025, in Los Angeles seeking $260 million from Tyler Perry. Dixon, who appeared in 85 episodes of Perry’s BET dramas The Oval and Ruthless, accuses Perry of leveraging his industry influence to initiate “a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic.”

Dixon says their relationship began after a chance encounter at the September 2019 opening of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Perry allegedly reached out, promising career breakthroughs and even discussing producing Dixon’s pilot. But Dixon claims the overtures soon turned sinister, with increasing sexual harassment and suggestive text messages.

The complaint details a January 2020 incident at Perry’s Atlanta home where Dixon alleges he was forcibly undressed, pinned against a wall and groped. After the assault, Perry offered Dixon a series‑regular role on The Oval—a position Dixon contends was wielded as leverage to silence him.

October 2020 brought another alarming episode. On a cast trip to the Bahamas, Perry allegedly groped Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual manner. Then, in June 2021, during discussions about Dixon’s pilot, Losing It, Perry purportedly assaulted him again. Dixon later met with a physician who diagnosed him with acute stress, insomnia and dangerously low cortisol—ultimately prescribing Zoloft.

Fearing for his mental health and career, Dixon fled Atlanta for Los Angeles in January 2023, ultimately leaving The Oval and forfeiting nearly $400,000. He claims this departure was prompted by ongoing harassment and retaliation.

The lawsuit lays out 10 legal claims, including quid‑pro‑quo harassment, sexual assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and workplace retaliation. It also invokes California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover‑Up Accountability Act. Dixon is pursuing damages, attorney fees, punitive relief and a jury trial.

Perry’s attorney, Matthew Boyd, calls the allegations “a scam” and insists they’re “fabricated,” promising confident dismissal. Perry, 55, a titan of modern Black entertainment—creator of Madea, owner of Tyler Perry Studios, and executive producer on multiple BET series—now faces a high‑stakes legal showdown.