Drama is brewing in Atlanta as actor Derek Dixon, known for playing Dale on Tyler Perry’s BET series The Oval, has filed a lawsuit accusing the Hollywood mogul of sexual harassment and assault — and he’s asking for a jaw-dropping $260 million in damages.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Derek claims he met Tyler at an event in 2019 where the filmmaker allegedly approached him and took his number. Not long after, Tyler reportedly gave him a small role on Ruthless before inviting him to his home in Atlanta.
Derek says he drank too much during that visit and passed out in a guest room. He alleges that Tyler entered the room while he was asleep, got into bed with him, and touched his thighs. He says he rejected the advance, but things didn’t end there.
Derek claims that after landing a bigger role in The Oval, Tyler began sending sexually charged texts — one allegedly saying, “No straight man would be going on walks with you or cooking dinner for you unless they wanted to fk you. I would fk you.” He says his character on the show, a gay and homeless store clerk, mirrored what Tyler allegedly described he was looking for in real life: someone desperate and dependent.
In June 2021, Derek says things escalated when he was staying at Tyler’s guest house. He claims Tyler came in to hug him goodnight, pulled down his underwear, and groped him, allegedly saying, “Relax and just let it happen.” Derek says he quickly changed the subject and avoided further contact.
Fearing that rejecting Tyler would ruin his acting career, Derek says he kept quiet for years until finally filing an EEOC complaint in June 2024. He has since quit The Oval, saying he could no longer work under the alleged conditions.
Tyler Perry’s lawyer, Matthew Boyd, has called the entire suit a “scam,” saying, “Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
For now, Tyler has yet to speak publicly, but all eyes are on how this shocking story unfolds.
