Actor sues media mogul Tyler Perry for alleged sexual assault

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic depictions of alleged sexual assault. 

Media mogul Tyler Perry, a professed Christian, has been accused of aggressively sexually assaulting and harassing a male actor and writer who was so traumatized by the alleged ordeal that he walked away from a contract worth nearly $400,000.

Actor Derek Dixon, who played the role of a gay store clerk in Perry’s “The Oval” BET series, is now seeking $260 million in damages, including punitive damages, according to a 46-page lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, last Friday.

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“This case arises from a sustained pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation perpetrated by Tyler Perry, a powerful media mogul, against Plaintiff Derek Dixon, a professional actor and screenwriter,” writes Dixon’s attorney, Jonathan J. Delshad.

“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 when Mr. Dixon did not reciprocate Mr. Perry’s unwanted advances,” the lawsuit adds.

“These events occurred while Mr. Dixon was employed as a series regular on the Tyler Perry show ‘The Oval,’ and while Mr. Perry held direct control over his employment, compensation, and creative opportunities.”

Matthew Boyd, a lawyer for Perry, called Dixon an “individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail,” Boyd said.

The lawsuit, which also names TPS Production Services, LLC, And Action LLC, and Does 1-50 as defendants, accuses Perry of quid pro quo sexual harassment; work environment harassment; sexual harassment; workplace gender violence; violation of Bane Act; sexual battery; sexual assault; negligent retention; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and retaliation.

Perry, who in 2018 told congregants at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church that he was once a minister and went to seminary, started his media empire marketing plays in the black church. He is known for highlighting storylines featuring struggling black women.

The lawsuit paints Perry as a sexual predator who lures and entraps his targets with the promise of fame and success in the film industry.

Dixon alleges that Perry tried to pressure him to engage in “guiltless sex” while he worked for him. The filing claims the media mogul told Dixon he has sex with men and stated in a text message that: “You can have freedom from religious guilt and still believe in Christ.”

The actor said he was working for an event company called Legendary Events in September 2019 when the owner, Tony Conway, a close friend of Perry, decided to place him “directly in a role at a party that required frequent conversation with Tyler Perry.”

He said Perry picked him out of a crowd of employees at the party and asked about his employment status and if he was an actor. Around early October, on the event’s last day, he exchanged numbers with Perry, who subsequently started communicating with him.

When Dixon told him that he was interested in acting and writing, the lawsuit claims Perry asked him to do an audition over the phone and quickly became sexually suggestive, noting at one point that he “needs a sugar daddy.”

Dixon soon learned from his boss that Perry was having another event in Los Angeles and offered to fly him from Atlanta, Georgia, where he was located at the time, to work at the event. Shortly after he did the event, Perry continued texting him with offers to help with his career, including a small role in his television series “Ruthless,” which had the possibility to get bigger.

“At this point, Dixon did not know that Perry was interested in men or that he was looking for a sexual relationship. Dixon assumed that Tyler Perry was genuinely a caring person who discovered the talent that Dixon always felt he had,” the lawsuit says.

“Dixon filmed his roles in ‘Ruthless’ in mid-November and returned to his job as an event staff for Legendary Events. Approximately one month later, Perry bought and gave Dixon a new car because he hated Dixon’s jeep. Dixon was surprised and elated. Dixon had no idea that he was being set up by Perry for extreme dependence.”

The lawsuit describes a relentless sexual pursuit of Dixon by Perry, which allegedly included repeated sexual harassment that culminated in an aggressive attack at Perry’s house on or around June 4, 2021, where Dixon said he had gone against his better judgment to discuss a film project he wrote and was trying to get Perry to make called “Losing It.”

At this point, Dixon was now working exclusively for Perry and had no other source of income. Dixon said he was made to feel that he could lose his job if he upset Perry. Perry reportedly told him that whenever he had issues with actors he didn’t want to deal with anymore, he would simply kill off their characters.

“Although Dixon hesitated, he feared the consequences of disappointing Perry and believed once ‘Losing It’ was a big show, he would be freed from under the clutches of Perry. During this visit, Perry made several alcoholic beverages for himself and demanded to know why Dixon was not having sex with anyone. Perry probed further about Dixon’s sex life, insisting that the two were becoming increasingly drunk and it was time to end the night,” the lawsuit says.

Perry allegedly convinced Dixon to stay the night in his guest house and try a weight monitor that would require him to strip down to his underwear.

“After weighing himself, Dixon walked toward the guest bedroom, followed by Perry, who then asked Dixon for a ‘good night’ hug. Rather than arguing, Dixon complied, at which point Perry reached out and yanked Dixon’s underwear down from behind. Perry then began to vigorously grab, grope, and play with Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual manner. Dixon was naked, stunned and seized by tremendous fear,” the lawsuit explains.

“Dixon started to tell Perry that he ‘did not want [his] underwear down,’ that Dixon ‘didn’t want to be naked,’ and that Dixon ‘didn’t want this.’ Dixon quickly reached to pull his underwear back up. As soon as he did, Perry grabbed Dixon’s reaching arm with a tight grip and held fast. Tyler Perry told Derek Dixon to ‘Relax,’ and to ‘just let it happen,’ and that Perry ‘wasn’t going to hurt [Dixon],” it adds.

Dixon alleges that Perry continued groping his buttocks and he feared at that that he was going to be raped “by a large, drunk, and sexually frustrated [6-foot-5-inch] man.”

He claims he was able to distract Perry by stating that “he couldn’t do anything sexual because he was so hungry.” He claims Perry then ordered pizza, and he spent the night locked inside the bathroom of the guest house because he could not lock the guest bedroom door to protect himself from Perry’s unwanted advances.

He said the following day, Perry apologized and blamed his actions on drunkenness.

“At this point, Dixon left Perry’s home uncontrollably shaking and contacted his close friends to discuss the unspeakable horror from the night before. For the next several days, until June 6, 2021, Perry texted and called Dixon incessantly.”

Dixon says he had to get therapy due to Perry’s actions and claims Perry’s team tried to keep him quiet with pay increases. He alleges that Perry also kept dangling the idea of “Losing It” getting produced in a bid to keep him silent until the statute of limitations ran out on the assault.

“In or around June of 2024, Perry, sensing that Dixon was getting frustrated about his show not getting off ground and still concerned about the sexual assault being made public, offered Dixon a position as a writer on Perry’s shows, indicating that he needed a replacement to continue writing. It was only then that Dixon woke up and realized that Perry would never be serious about helping Dixon. Perry was only going to do things for Dixon if Dixon played along with the sexual harassment and assault,” the lawsuit contends.

“Perry was only interested in preventing Dixon from exposing the dark side of Tyler Perry. Perry only cared that people still view him as the victim he once was, even now as he took shape as the victimizer.”

Dixon reported Perry’s sexual harassment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but said Perry and his co-defendants did nothing to protect him on the job.

“Because Defendants took no action to prevent further assault or harassment, Dixon had to quit his job working on the last season of ‘The Oval.’ Dixon did so even though he was under contract to finish filming and stood to make close to $400,000,” the lawsuit notes. “Dixon did not want to be sexually harassed or be placed in danger of a sexual assault again.”

The lawsuit also draws similarities between Dixon’s claims and those of Christian Keyes, another actor who has appeared in multiple Tyler Perry films. Keyes stated publicly in 2023 that he was sexually harassed by a “black Hollywood billionaire” but did not name the person.

“In December 2023, Christian Keyes, another actor who worked for Perry prior to Dixon’s employment, posted a video on social media platforms detailing his abusive experience with an anonymous’ black Hollywood billionaire,’ which Dixon pieced together and believes to be Tyler Perry,” the lawsuit says.

“Dixon heard Mr. Keyes’ account and saw that Perry had been engaging in the same sexual conduct as other actors. Just like the interactions described by Keyes, Perry would get drunk, climb into Dixon’s bed, and start fondling Dixon’s buttocks. Dixon wanted to share his experiences with the media to prevent other actors from being abused at the hands of Perry.”