Entertainment tycoon Tyler Perry has been named in a $260 million (N202bn) lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Friday, alleging he sexually harassed an actor.

Derek Dixon, an actor, said in lawsuit documents acquired by Daily Mail that Perry, 55, aggressively attempted to build a sexual dynamic between them when he featured on two of Perry's BET programs: Ruthless and The Oval.

Perry, who counts Oprah and Meghan Markle among his closest confidantes,

"will not be shaken down, and we are convinced these bogus charges of harassment will fail," his lawyer Matthew Boyd told the Daily Mail in a statement on Tuesday.

Boyd stated of Dixon: "This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam."

According to Dixon's team's legal action against Perry, Perry first promised the actor 'professional progression and creative opportunities.'

The legal documents they included pledged to "produce his pilot and cast him in his show."

Perry subjected Dixon to escalating sexual harassment, abuse and battery, and professional retaliation when [Dixon] refused Mr. Perry's unwanted advances.'

Dixon alleged in legal documents that he first met Perry in September 2019 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

Dixon claimed in the legal complaint that after meeting the billionaire at a party for one of Perry's gigs, the New Orleans-born star began sending him sexually suggestive text messages.

Dixon said in the legal complaint that Perry attempted to build 'a forceful, sexually exploitative dynamic' between them while working on the sets of The Oval and Ruthless, where he played a character named Dale.

Dixon claims Perry offered to carve out a part for him that would change his life, starting in November 2019 with a role in the series Ruthless.

According to the civil complaint, Dixon claimed Perry sexually attacked him in January 2020 at the entertainment mogul's house.

Dixon told the court in February 2020 that Perry had offered him a recurring role on The Oval. (He ended up playing Dale in 85 episodes spanning across five seasons from 2021 to 2025.)

Dixon claimed Perry demonstrated his immense power by leaving his character Dale with an undetermined fate to end The Oval's first season.

'Mr. Perry made it clear to Dixon that if Dixon ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendos, Dixon's character would 'die' in the next season,' the actor's legal complaint read.

Perry subjected Dixon to 'escalating sexual harassment, assault and violence, and professional retaliation when Mr. Dixon did not reciprocate Mr. Perry's unwanted approaches,' according to the complaint.

According to Dixon's court complaint, Perry's harassment continued after filming the scene in which his character, Dale, was shot.

In the civil complaint, the actor said that the entertainment magnate began aggressively groping his backside 'in a sexual gesture,' which also occurred on an October 2020 Bahamas trip related to the lawsuit.

Dixon stated in his civil complaint that a doctor's visit in late 2020 revealed "severe symptoms of acute stress, insomnia, stomach issues, and dangerously low cortisol levels as a result of the sexual harassment and assault."

Dixon said he was later administered the antidepressant Zoloft in December 2020.

Dixon alleged in the legal complaint that he went to Perry's house in June 2021 to discuss a potential pilot for the show Losing It.

Perry had expressed an interest in creating the program prior to the encounter, according to Dixon's legal docs.

The actor said that Perry sexually attacked him during this meeting four years ago, resulting in extreme sadness, anxiety, stomach pains, nausea, and PTSD in the months that followed.

Dixon stated in the legal complaint that he informed Perry in January 2023 that he was relocating to California to create 'some distance' between the two of them.

Dixon said that the move cost him about $400,000 since it forced him to miss the final season of The Oval.

Dixon accuses Perry of sexual harassment, abuse, assault, and other offences in the lawsuit, seeking a total of $260 million in damages.

Legit.ng compiled the reactions below:

banks_of_africa said:

"Why is there always an agenda to cripple rich black men??? And I’m it saying he did it or not… I’m just saying why must it always be a black man?"

thekokoma wrote:

"He just messed up his career! 260M he won't see, Career? Deaddd now! Read all those screenshots not even one inappropriate word and i have a feeling Tyler didn't write those. Or does he really not know the Difference between "there and their"?"

she_is_nasa said:

"Make him more popular please. We love him. Flirting is now called assault?"

mark_iaomai wrote:

"Make una no push Tyler to his last straw oh!!! If not taraji dey learn work for Wetin en go do this guy! 😂😂😂😂😂😂."

akunwa_ said:

"It’s about to go down!!! I’ve had that feeling that they’d come for Tyler Perry soon."

ozzzy_oma said:

"They always show up at their dawn."

babyrush39 wrote:

"When you just see that kind of money just know they guy know serious 😂😂."

coolcatasmr said:

"he don't even look that cute."

hadaesther wrote:

"If only Tyler had come out of the closet , gotten himself a partner and just be about his business … all this story won’t be heard !! But watch them come for him from now on. This guy just opened the flood gate."

rachealwithroyalty said:

"Now this really shows how they keep bringing down “black successful men in high places. But guess what, it won’t work this time around."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Nigerian woman re-watched Tyler Perry's Netflix film, Straw, and shared her powerful discovery online.

She shared what she realised while re-watching the movie, stating that she didn't notice it while watching the first time.

Her analysis sparked reactions online, with many agreeing they missed that emotional detail and planned to re-watch the film.

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Source: Legit.ng