[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
The man who has accused Tyler Perry of sexual harassment and assault is now speaking out — and he has a LOT to say.
As we’ve reported, actor Derek Dixon first filed a lawsuit last month seeking $260 million from Perry over accusations of assault and harassment. And now, in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Dixon is letting his allegations be known.
Related: Oprah Winfrey Reveals Big Tyler Perry Secret!
He opened by saying:
“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.”
The actor, who appeared on 85 episodes of Perry’s BET series The Oval between 2021 and 2025, recounted to THR how he first met Perry, how the producer allegedly made unwanted and persistent sexual advances towards him, and so much more.
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The First Meeting
It all started in September 2019, Dixon said, when he was working as an event coordinator for a company that had been organizing a party at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Dixon was trying to become an actor at the time, too, and sporadically writing and acting in theater productions around the city.
But while working for the event company on that gig, Dixon encountered Perry — and the powerful producer singled him out. Dixon claims Perry asked if he was an actor, to which he replied:
“I said, ‘Yes, but not really right now.’ And he said, ‘Yes you are. I can tell.’”
After the event, they exchanged phone numbers. At that point, Dixon claims Perry began texting him with messages like this:
“So who are you? What’s the dream? What do you want to do?”
Perry offered Dixon some opportunities to audition for characters, including in Ruthless.
Dixon, who is gay, said he had no idea that Perry wanted anything beyond that early on. He didn’t even want to speculate on Perry’s possible sexual orientation, either. Dixon said:
“I’m not going to speak for him on how he identifies sexually. 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.”
The Plot Thickens
Things took a turn in January of 2020, Dixon claims, when Perry invited the actor to his house in Douglasville County, Georgia.
Both men drank alcohol that night, and Dixon was too drunk to drive home. So, Perry told him to stay in the guest house. Dixon did so, going there and getting ready for bed. But that’s when he claims Perry suddenly appeared:
“[Perry] climbed into bed with me and began rubbing my thigh. I immediately jumped out of the bed and said, ‘I’m not that sexual’ and stood up until he left the room. I thought that my reaction made it clear that night that I was not interested.”
Following the encounter, Perry allegedly called or texted Dixon every day. After a few days of being ignored, Perry then texted the actor saying he was going to expand Dixon’s role from Ruthless to make the character a recurring star on The Oval.
And while Dixon read in the script that his character would eventually be shot four times at the end of the season — and thus, presumably killed off — Perry apparently said otherwise. Dixon recalled:
“He said that if I did a good job, I’d probably survive. I remember feeling my stomach drop when he said this. I knew that I couldn’t piss him off or my character could easily just stay dead.”
After that good news, though, the text messaging frequency increased considerably. Dixon claimed in the lawsuit:
“It was always personal and almost never about business. He would say ‘send pics’ of what I was doing or ask to see a photo shoot that I just did.”
A Growing Concern
Well, once COVID hit, production on The Oval was delayed. And when that happened, Perry encouraged Dixon to write a comedy pilot.
The actor did so, and shared it with Perry… who loved it. Dixon recalled Tyler saying this:
“He called me and told me that it was hilarious, and he loved it and wanted to shoot the pilot for it. I couldn’t believe he actually liked it, much less wanted to shoot the pilot for it. It was one of the best things to ever happen to me at the time.”
Dixon thought for a moment that things were going to be professional from there. He recalled:
“There were times when I was around him and nothing would happen. So I thought he got the picture, and that created a false sense of security.”
But then, the inappropriate texts allegedly started up again. Dixon claimed that Perry once asked about his “thick” body, and messaged:
“Why do you twist your hips when you walk?”
In another text, Perry allegedly asked if Dixon “liked being choked” after a choking scene on the show. And in a third one, Perry reportedly told Dixon he needed to “let someone hold you and make love to you.”
Putting Pressure
Things came to a head one day when Perry allegedly asked Dixon to come to his trailer on set for a drink. Dixon recalled:
“I knew I had to. We all were living at Tyler Perry Studios, working for Tyler Perry — who was the producer, writer, and director — and I understood that you do what Tyler Perry says, and you go where he demands. I felt like if you were invited and you cared at all about your career and staying on the show, you couldn’t say no.”
While drinking margaritas, Dixon claims Perry began asking uncomfortable questions like whether the actor was attracted to him. Dixon kept trying to deflect Perry’s interest. And then, just as he was leaving, Tyler allegedly pushed him into the wall and grabbed his butt while they hugged.
Nevertheless, Dixon tried to think things would turn out okay:
“After he would do things like that, he would say things like, ‘We need to just be business. We need to just be professional,’ and I would think, ‘Great. Yes.’ Every time I thought it would stop.”
The texting continued, though. According to Dixon’s complaint, the messages allegedly came in waves with messages like this:
“Derek. Don’t you dare ignore me. I deserve better. I deserve attention all the time.”
“What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?”
“Have you found that yet in therapy?”
A Late-Night Move
Things came to a head in June of 2021, when Perry invited Dixon back over to his home to discuss his pilot, now called Losing It.
Dixon recalled:
“I was worried but I knew I had to go. I thought if he tried anything again, I could handle it and de-escalate it like I usually did.”
But he and Perry got drunk again, he said. And then he went to go sleep in the guest house again… until this allegedly happened:
“He told me to give him a goodnight hug and as I did, he abruptly and forcefully pulled down my underwear and groped my bare ass. When I tried to pull my underwear back up, he grabbed my wrists to keep me from putting them back on. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
Dixon thought he was going to be raped, and so he screamed out:
“I told him ‘No,’ ‘Stop,’ and ‘I don’t want this.’ But he wasn’t stopping. He just told me to relax and let it happen and that he wasn’t going to hurt me.”
Wow.
To get out of the situation, Dixon allegedly told Perry that he was hungry. That defused things well enough, and they ate pizza before Dixon claimed he returned to the guest house, locked himself in the bathroom, and fell asleep there on the floor.
Avoiding It
Days later, Dixon said he contacted a lawyer, but the attorney told him that he’d need to quit The Oval if he was going to file a lawsuit. That, the actor said, was very difficult:
“All those years of trying to be an actor would just go up in smoke. This is not a normal job. You can’t just go out and easily get another series regular role on a TV show. I was too afraid to come forward. I knew it would be awful. And I was right.”
Dixon then recalled how over the next several months, he avoided Perry. That included turning down an invitation for a yacht trip. And they did eventually shoot Dixon’s pilot, with Perry even choosing to give Dixon a raise at his regular role — but not to tell the other cast members about it because Perry apparently said Dixon was the only one getting more money! Shady!
All that, Dixon claimed, was apparently Perry’s way of trying to keep him around — and keep him from talking:
“I believe he was trying to dangle my dreams in front of me for as long as he could to prevent me from talking.”
Moving Beyond
In January of 2023, Dixon moved to Santa Monica, California in a bid to distance himself from Perry. And in June of 2024, he filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after quitting his job on The Oval. That complaint is still pending.
Nevertheless, Dixon summed things up:
“I was an employee, and he was my boss. The fact that I’m an actor doesn’t make me any less an employee. For a long time, I convinced myself that it was part of the industry, or that somehow I had to accept it to keep working. But eventually, I couldn’t stay silent anymore.”
He also said that going after a private settlement with Perry wouldn’t stop other people from suffering these alleged actions:
“There are always attempts to resolve situations like this privately, but they never result in the type of change necessary to protect further victims. At the end of the day my absolute fear is that he will be able to continue doing this without any major consequences.”
Damn.
It’s a lot. Reactions, y’all?
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Derek Dixon/Instagram/WENN]
The post Tyler Perry Accuser Derek Dixon Shares Full Shocking Extent Of Harassment & Assault Allegations Against TV Mogul appeared first on Perez Hilton.