For the first time since suing Tyler Perry for alleged sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation in June, actor Derek Dixon speaks out about his bombshell $260 million lawsuit.
The entertainment industry was shaken to its very core when Dixon filed a complaint against Perry, claiming the latter created “a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic” between them while starring in the media mogul’s BET series The Oval and Ruthless, where Dixon played Dale.
Now, after almost a month, Dale has found his voice to go public, determined not to let his alleged perpetrator get away without getting justice.
What Did Derek Dixon Say About Tyler Perry?
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter by email, Derek admitted that going against an entertainment magnate like Perry has been “terrifying.”
However, he still felt the need to speak out because he didn’t want him to just get away with this.
“Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them,” he said. “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.”
Dixon and Perry first met in Atlanta in 2019. At the time, the actor was Legendary Events’ event coordinator, organizing Tyler Perry Studios’ opening party.
The filmmaker, famous for being the creator of the Madea movies, called him out from among the crowd of other event staff to ask him to get on stage and check the lighting.
Perry then asked if he was an actor, to which Dixon said, “Yes.” At the time, Dixon was sporadically acting and writing in theater in Atlanta.
They exchanged numbers, and Perry started texting Dixon to get to know him better and offer him the role of Dale in Ruthless.
Despite being an out gay man, Dixon said he never knew Perry liked guys or “was looking for a sexual relationship.”
When Did the Alleged Sexual Assault Encounters Happened Between Tyler Perry and Derek Dixon?
The first sexual assault encounter between Perry and Dixon happened in January 2020. But as he refused, Dixon thought it was the end of it.
Perry continued helping advance Dixon’s career, making the latter believe his “boss” didn’t have any sexual intentions toward him. Unfortunately, the worst happened in June 2021 when he thought he was about to be raped.
Dixon already wanted to make a legal move against Perry then. But after speaking with a lawyer and being advised to leave The Oval, Dixon realized that all his hard work to become an actor “would just go up in smoke.”
“I was too afraid to come forward,” he confessed. “I knew it would be awful. And I was right.”
Dixon found it hard to avoid Perry, feeling the playwright was “trying to dangle my dreams in front of me for as long as he could to prevent me from talking.”
He eventually found the courage to file a sexual harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and quit The Oval, though the complaint is still pending.
“I was an employee, and he was my boss. The fact that I’m an actor doesn’t make me any less an employee,” he explained. “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.”
Though there were attempts to settle the case with Perry privately before filing the lawsuit last month, Dixon said it “never resulted 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,” he added.
Dixon revealed he wasn’t the only one who experienced the same nightmare at Perry’s hands, claiming that several people came forward and shared similar experiences with the actor.
So, amid the mix of responses he has received since the lawsuit became public, from threats to messages of support, he remains determined to pursue the case for victims and employees like him.
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