Tyler Perry Hit With $260 Million Sexual Assault Lawsuit
Actor Derek Dixon, best known for his roles on BET’s The Oval and Ruthless, has filed a $260 million lawsuit against media mogul Tyler Perry, accusing him of sexual assault, harassment and professional retaliation.
The lawsuit, filed on June 13 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges that Perry used his influence in the entertainment industry to coerce Dixon into a relationship, promising major career opportunities in exchange.
According to court documents, the alleged misconduct began in 2019, after Perry casted Dixon in Ruthless and later offered him a role on The Oval. Dixon claims Perry began sending sexually explicit messages and later assaulted him at his home in Georgia. Dixon says another sexual assault happened again during a 2021 trip to the Bahamas. When Dixon rejected Perry’s advances, the lawsuit alleges, his character on The Oval was written off and other professional opportunities rescinded, costing him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Perry’s legal team has strongly denied the allegations, calling them a “fabricated extortion scam.” They argue that Dixon’s claims are not only baseless but also defamatory, and they plan to fight the case in court.
This isn’t the first time speculation around Perry and inappropriate behavior has surfaced. In December 2023, actor Christian Keyes, who played in Perry’s BET original series, Sistas, took to Instagram Live to share his own experience of being harassed by a “billionaire” in Hollywood. Keyes described unwanted advances and a financial offer in exchange for sexual favors. Though Keyes never named the individual, the public quickly began trying to connect the dots and Keyes later distanced himself from those assumptions.
