Tyler Perry has publicly responded to the allegations of sexual assault and harassment brought by actor Derek Dixon. In a recent court filing, Perry denied the claims and portrayed them as financially motivated and fundamentally false.
Dixon filed a lawsuit in June 2025 seeking $260 million in damages. The suit accuses Perry of leveraging his industry power to coerce Dixon into unwanted sexual acts, promising professional opportunities in return and retaliating when boundaries were pushed back.
Perry’s legal team, in a motion filed in early October, wrote that the accusations are “profoundly disappointing, cynical, and — most of all — false.” The filing further states, “Dixon invents alleged assaults and encounters that never happened.”
Perry’s attorneys also argued the case was wrongly filed in California. They claim the first venue should have been Georgia, where his studio operates. In the October filing, they also asserted the lawsuit “stems from Dixon’s greed and avarice, not Mr. Perry’s alleged and nonexistent harassment or abuse.”
Dixon Speaks Out; Perry Denies
In his first television interview since filing the suit, Dixon told ABC News, “I wanted to speak out and not stay silent about it anymore.” He described the process as “vulnerable” and said he wrestled with shame in going public.
During that interview, Dixon recalled a message from Perry, “One of them says, ‘What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?’”
He also recounted alleged physical encounters, including one when Perry climbed into bed with him uninvited and another in a trailer where he was pinned against a wall. Dixon said he immediately tried to de-escalate and leave.
Perry’s attorney, Matthew Boyd, dismissed the claims. He said, “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.” He added, “Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Dixon, through his attorneys, emphatically rejected this framing. They maintain the complaint includes explicit text messages from Perry, in which he allegedly made sexual remarks and dangled professional opportunities. They claim Perry’s filing “provides no evidence to corroborate that the text messages … are fabricated.”
Perry’s team has stated that he “looks forward to refuting each and every false accusation in court.” Meanwhile, Dixon has threatened to bring his full case before a jury, arguing that powerful figures should not be beyond accountability.