Tyler Perry, best known for films including Acrimony and his iconic Madea comedy series, is facing a $260 million sexual assault lawsuit after actor Derek Dixon, who played Dale on Perry’s BET drama The Oval, made public charges of harassment and abuse.
In his first on-camera interview with ABC News on September 9, 2025, Dixon claimed Perry established a coercive dynamic that blurred professional boundaries and made him fearful for his career.
He claimed the filmmaker pulled down his underwear and grabbed his buttocks at the producer’s Atlanta house. “I was under constant stress, scared I’d lose my job or be killed off the show if I didn’t comply,” Dixon told Variety.
Dixon explained the scale of the damages, saying the action represented both personal losses and a deterrent to abuse.
“Part of that number is my lost job, my lost income, and the loss of a show. The other part of that is a deterrent: how do you stop a billionaire who won’t stop themselves from doing this?” he explained.
He also accused Perry of failing to fulfill a promise to produce a pilot he wrote, which he claims Perry still owns.
Despite the risks, Dixon stated that he stepped up “to protect future generations of actors and creatives” and “never exploit someone’s aspirations to coerce them into a relationship.” That’s unprofessional.”
The filmmaker’s attorney, Matthew Boyd, responded to the allegations, saying, “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be an intricate scheme. But Tyler will not be coerced, and we are confident that these baseless harassment charges will fail.”
Dixon joined Perry’s productions in 2020, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January 2024, and left The Oval later that year.
His June 2025 lawsuit has heightened attention to workplace harassment and power issues in Hollywood.
At the time of filing this report, Dixon remains the only publicly identified accuser. Perry has denied all allegations.
