Actor Derek Dixon broke his silence after accusing Tyler Perry of sexual assault and harassment in a $260 million lawsuit last month.
“I couldn’t just let him get away with this,” Dixon told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, July 10, in his first interview since the accusations went public. “Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them.”
Dixon said his “goal” with the suit is to “help ensure that the next generation of actors and creatives don’t have to choose between their dreams and their dignity.”
Us Weekly confirmed that Dixon filed a lawsuit against Perry, 55, and Tyler Perry Studios in Los Angeles on June 13. The actor, who appeared on Perry’s BET series The Oval starting in 2021, is suing for quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and retaliation, among other accusations.
Perry was quick to deny the accusations against him.
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” Perry’s attorney Matthew Boyd shared in a statement. “But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Dixon alleged that Perry groped him and snuck into his bed, among other claims. The actor also claimed that Perry has a pattern of this type of behavior with male employees.
Derek Dixon Courtesy of Derek Dixon/Instagram
During Thursday’s interview, Dixon said he met Perry in September 2019 while working in Atlanta. They allegedly exchanged phone numbers after Perry inquired if Dixon was an actor. Then, the opportunity for Dixon to audition for The Oval came about. The first alleged incident occurred in January 2022 when Dixon stayed in Perry’s guest house.
Perry allegedly “climbed into bed” with Dixon and started “rubbing” his leg.
While Hollywood may appear to be all glitz and glam on the surface, the industry has seen its fair share of scandals through the years. The New York Times and the New Yorker first published investigative pieces in 2017 that accused disgruntled movie producer Harvey Weinstein of decades of sexual assault and harassment. Soon after, Weinstein stood trial and was […]
“I immediately jumped out of the bed and said, ‘I’m not that sexual’ and stood up until he left the room,” Dixon told THR. “I thought that my reaction made it clear that night that I was not interested.”
Perry allegedly continued to text Dixon — but the messages remained unanswered.
“I’m not going to speak for him on how he identifies sexually,” Dixon told THR of his alleged experiences with Perry. “Regardless of his sexual orientation or gender, he should not be speaking to any of his employees whether they be men or women, gay, straight or bisexual about their sexual preferences, how often they’re having sex and physically assaulting them.”
While the two continued to work together, Dixon was under the impression that Perry “got the picture” that nothing sexual would occur between them.
“I now realize I let my gratefulness for what he’d done for me cloud my self-respect,” Dixon added, noting elsewhere that he was initially “too afraid to come forward.”
“I knew it would be awful. And I was right,” he added. “This is why people, especially men, don’t come forward.”
