Tyler Perry faces ABC News report on actor’s sexual assault allegations

Long-brewing sexual misconduct claims against Tyler Perry are getting the national TV news medicine Tuesday Sept with ABC News airing an interview with actor Derek Dixon who has accused the entertainment mogul of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed in June Earlier Tuesday ABC News published a clip of Dixon s interview in which the actor appears to describe the first time that the Atlanta-based film and TV actor and producer allegedly harassed him According to Dixon s lawsuit the matter happened in Perry s home in January after they both consumed alcohol and Perry insisted that the younger actor stay the night I got into bed and then I noticed that he climbed into bed with me as well and started rubbing my leg Dixon explained ABC News anchor Linsey Davis I jumped up out of bed Dixon appeared in two series produced by Perry including episodes of Perry s White House-set BET series The Oval from to The clips disclosed by ABC News suggest that the actor will cover particular of the same ground described in his million lawsuit and in a July interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter Among other things Dixon alleges that the Madea creator has engaged in a pattern of exploiting male actors in his productions and of using his power in the entertainment industry to harass employees In Christian Keyes an actor who worked for Perry prior to Dixon s employment went on Instagram live detailing his abusive experience with an anonymous black Hollywood billionaire according to The Hollywood Reporter Dixon believes the billionaire is Perry but Keyes manager didn t respond to request for comment from The Hollywood Reporter Perry s attorney emphatically denied Dixon s assertions according to a message stated by The Grio a Black news lifestyle and opinion site This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam attorney Matthew Boyd mentioned But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated suggests of harassment will fail But Dixon is expected to tell ABC News that he stands by his accusations Unless someone has been through something where they have their control over their bodies taken away you don t really understand the kind of feelings that you get in that moment he revealed in the interview clip In his email to The Hollywood Reporter Dixon also announced Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them My goal is to help ensure that the next generation of actors and creatives don t have to choose between their dreams and their dignity According to Dixon s lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court Perry repeatedly invited him to his home touched him without consent and sent unwanted sexual messages Dixon also revealed he filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June before ultimately leaving The Oval saying he could no longer withstand the alleged harassment In email responses to The Hollywood Reporter Dixon announced he first met Perry in Atlanta in September of when he was working as an event coordinator for a company Legendary Events that was organizing the opening party for Tyler Perry Studios Dixon who had performed and written for Atlanta theater productions noted that Perry singled him out in the crowd of event staff He inquired him if he was an actor I stated Yes but not really right now Dixon notified The Hollywood Reporter And he announced Yes you are I can tell At the end of the event Perry and Dixon exchanged numbers and Perry began texting Dixon the next day asking So who are you What s the dream What do you want to do Perry offered Dixon the opportunity to audition for a small part in his series Ruthless a spin-off of The Oval Perry ultimately gave Dixon the part saying that the role could get bigger At that point Dixon who is an out gay man did not know that Perry was interested in men or that he was looking for a sexual relationship his lawsuit reported About a year later in December Perry reported on Instagram that he had broken up with his longtime girlfriend Gelila Bekele with whom he shares a now -year-old son had broken up 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 Dixon advised The Hollywood Reporter During Dixon s first alleged encounter with Perry he reported the producer backed off when he notified him he wasn t interested in sex However Perry began to call or text Dixon every day including when he notified Dixon that he desired to expand his small role in Ruthless into a larger recurring role on The Oval When production of The Oval was delayed by the COVID- pandemic Dixon mentioned Perry encouraged him to write a script for a comedy pilot Dixon disclosed Perry complimented him on the script and even offered to produce a pilot though he was vague on details as he continued to send text messages complimenting him on his body or telling him he needed to let someone hold you and make love to you There was another meeting at Perry s home in during which Dixon declared the producer again drank too much and allegedly groped Dixon during a good-night hug according to The Hollywood Reporter Dixon announced he contacted an attorney to discuss his options while also confiding in a co-worker The attorney narrated him he would need to quit The Oval before he could file a complaint while his co-worker reminded him that he d be giving up professional acting job All those years of trying to be an actor would just go up in smoke Dixon advised The Hollywood Reporter You can t just go out and easily get another series regular role on a TV show Dixon commented he felt too paralyzed to take action against Perry I was too afraid to come forward I knew it would be awful And I was right