CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses alleged sexual assault and harrassment.
Media mogul Tyler Perry has been accused of sexual harassment and assault in a new lawsuit filed by actor Derek Dixon.
First reported by PEOPLE on Tuesday, Dixon — who starred in Perry’s shows The Oval and Ruthless — has accused the actor and filmmaker of creating a “coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic” between them while working on the shows.
Per the complaint filed in Los Angeles on June 13, he is suing for sexual harassment, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and retaliation.
The lawsuit alleges Perry initially promised Dixon “career advancement and creative opportunities”, like casting him in the shows and producing his pilot, only to “subject him to escalating sexual harassment, assault and battery, and professional retaliation” when Dixon didn’t reciprocate Perry’s “unwanted advances”.
Perry has denied the allegations and his attorney Matthew Boyd described the case as a “shakedown”.
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Boyd told PEOPLE in a statement.
“But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Per the lawsuit, Dixon met Perry back in September 2019 at an opening party for Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta when he was working for an events company. He alleges Perry began texting him, sometimes with suggestive advances, and asked questions about his career aspirations.
Dixon claimed Perry offered him a small role on Ruthless in November 2019 and sexually assaulted him at Perry’s home in January 2020. He alleged Perry then offered Dixon a regular role on The Oval the following month.
In the finale of the first season, the character’s fate was left in the air, and Dixon alleged Perry “made it clear” that the character would die in the next season if he “ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendos”.
“Indeed, Dixon’s character ‘Dale’ was shot four times in the chest at the end of his first season on The Oval and Perry always held this over Mr. Dixon’s head, implying that ‘Dale’ would survive if Dixon kept Perry ‘happy’,” the lawsuit stated, per PEOPLE.
The lawsuit describes multiple incidents of sexual harassment and assault that unfolded over several years. In one such incident, Dixon alleged he was sexually assaulted at Perry’s home in June 2021 when he visited to discuss the pilot for his show Losing It, which Perry had expressed interest in producing.
Dixon said he “suffered from severe depression, anxiety, stomach pains, and nausea” in the months following the incident and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He continued to star in The Oval until he left in the show’s final season. The move, according to Dixon, resulted in him losing out on close to US$400,000 (approximately AUD$600,000).
He is requesting a jury trial and damages of US$260 million (approximately AUD$400 million), per PEOPLE.
Lead image: Getty
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