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Tyler Perry, the billionaire movie mogul behind the iconic “Madea” franchise is battling a $260 million lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by actor Derek Dixon, a former cast member on Perry’s BET drama The Oval.
The lawsuit case stems from allegations that Perry, filmmaker and founder of Tyler Perry Studios, fostered a coercive dynamic with Dixon that blurred professional boundaries and culminated in an unwanted contact and retaliation when Dixon resisted.
Alleged misconduct and coercive workplace dynamics
Dixon, who joined Perry’s productions in 2020, claims Perry made repeated unwanted advances, including explicit text messages and physical groping incidents at his Atlanta home and during cast trips, involving Perry pulling down Dixon’s underwear and grabbing his buttocks.
The actor further accuses Perry of reneging on a promise to produce a pilot script he had written, which he alleges Perry still controls. Before departing The Oval in late 2024, Dixon filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing a hostile work environment. The June 2025 civil filing in Los Angeles seeks $260 million in damages — part for lost income and part as punitive deterrent against what Dixon calls abuse of power by a billionaire employer.
Perry’s defense and jurisdictional context
Perry’s lawyer Boyd has rejected the allegations outright, arguing the claims are fabricated: “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be an elaborate scam. But Tyler will not be coerced, and we are confident these unfounded claims will not succeed.”
No criminal charges have been filed against Perry to date. The case also shows how hard it is for men in the industry to report abuse, which raises bigger questions about who is responsible, how coercion works, and what civil courts can do to stop high-profile people from doing wrong.
With no trial date set yet the lawsuit is one of the most important legal challenges Perry has faced in his career so far and it could change both his reputation and the larger conversation about power dynamics in Hollywood.
Hollywood scrutiny over power and accountability
Perry’s fortune has climbed from about $1 billion at the start of 2024 to $1.4 billion, cementing his status as one of the wealthiest Black individuals globally and placing him 2,591st on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.
That financial rise was helped by a new deal with BET Media Group in April 2024. This deal extended his ten existing series and gave the go-ahead for a new crime drama that will start airing in 2025.
Against this backdrop, the lawsuit raises concerns about Hollywood’s workplace culture. Tyler Perry Studios — the largest Black-owned film campus in the U.S. — has become an anchor of Atlanta’s entertainment economy, amplifying concerns about the imbalance of power between a billionaire studio owner and the actors who depend on him for work.
