By LawInspectsJust this month, in June 2025, we saw the Tyler Perry Lawsuit, and once again, it is a big one in Hollywood. Just so you know, though, it actually is a $260 million lawsuit, and sure enough, that right there is a mind-boggling number. And sure enough, as you may already know the details, it is actually Derek Dixon who’s suing Perry, yup, the very Derek Dixon who used to work in Perry’s show The Oval and Ruthless. Anyway, let’s get to the details and see what the real matter is with this case.
Timeline of Events, Like, How It Started
Back in September 2019, when Derek Dixon met Tyler Perry at an event. One month after, he received auditions from him. Things were well at first. Dixon said things started to take a wrong turn come early 2020.
He alleges that, contrary to all norms, Perry began asking too personal questions, making suggestive comments, and behaving in ways that violated the professional atmosphere that should always exist, especially when a person wielding superior influence over your professional life behaves so.
For now, just so you know, though, between 2020 and 2024, Dixon was still working on The Oval, appearing in 85 episodes. Behind the scenes, however, he claims Perry took advantage of his power to allegedly threaten Dixon with the removal of his character from the show in the event his personal demands were not met. That’s the unethical and unfair part of it all that bothered a lot of people once the details were made public.
By June 2024, Dixon turned down a writing opportunity from Perry. And just this year, we saw him file this Tyler Perry Lawsuit. So, that’s that for now!
What Is Tyler Perry Being Accused Of?
Dixon claims that Perry kept making sexual advances towards him. Yes, the indications of that can be seen everywhere in his statements, and just so you know, these consisted of unwanted physical contact, entering his private world without consent, and sending inappropriate messages; one of the messages, Dixon said, read: “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?”
But he adds that Perry did act possessively and that Perry would get jealous when he was with other men. Furthermore, he alleges that the show used his role as leverage: in other words, if he didn’t play that character, well, his character was going to get written off.
That is not all of it, though, you see, Dixon alleges that when he tried to step away from the show, saying that he was on a medical leave was the only option he was given, and to be clear, it was an unpaid leave.
So Far, What Tyler Perry Has Said in Response
Well, as you could have expected it already, yes, all the allegations have been denied by Perry. His lawyers referred to the lawsuit as a “scam,” arguing that Dixon somehow intentionally got close to Perry just to set him up. That’s not it, though; they even went further with this, like saying that those allegations are completely false and that Dixon is using a means of manipulation to get money.
According to Perry’s side, there is no truth to these claims, and they do not foresee the matter holding in a court of law; that said, the lawsuit has been filed and will therefore proceed through its regular course of legal proceedings. So, that’s bound to happen; however, Perry says that this all will be over in no time.
Evidence for That?
Dixon said yes. There is actual evidence of this happening to him.
According to him, text and screenshot evidence exist that support his allegations. If that’s true, well, this is actual evidence that can be presented in court. Those messages, allegedly from Perry, were described as containing flirtatious and inappropriate language. He also names some incidents that happened at Perry’s house, on set, and even inside trailers.
He also says that he was promised better roles and pay raises, but only if he kept his mouth shut about whatever way he was behaving with Dixon.