Tyler Perry Says Accuser ‘Needs Help’ Amid $260M Assault Case
Tyler Perry has responded to the sexual assault claims imposed against him by Derek Dixon and claims that the actor “needs help.”
After Dixon's first televised interview about the allegations, Perry's legal team fired back with claims of extortion, false allegations and a failed TV pilot. The 56-year-old film and TV titan says Dixon “relied on Hollywood stereotypes and the bad deeds of others,” and tried to “change Mr. Perry's sinister acts of platonic friendship and professional mentorship,” according to PEOPLE.
Perry's legal team filed documents on Oct. 1 and plans to take the case to court rather than bow to Dixon's $260 million request.
“Dixon invents alleged assaults and encounters that never happened,” the filing states, as reported by PEOPLE. “Mr. Perry never assaulted Dixon or committed a sexual battery. He did not offer Dixon pay increases and Dixon's television pilot script to threaten, coerce or control Dixon. And it is noteworthy that in his attempt to exploit his friendship and professional relationship with Mr. Perry to obtain a $260 million payday, Dixon was not just for himself.
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“By his actions and false accusations, it is clear that Dixon needs help. But he cannot find it in this Court. Although Dixon claims that he was the victim of escalating sexual abuse, he had no problem taking a role in season 2 of Mr. Perry's television series The Oval.”
BOSSIP previously reported that Dixon claims he was assaulted multiple times by Perry in his Atlanta home and forced to allow it in order to keep his job.
“We both walked back to the guest area, where I had stayed before, and there's this health monitor scale on the way. I was like, 'What is that?' And he said, 'Well, you have to be in your underwear to be measured,'” Dixon recalled. “He reached down and pulled my underwear down and grabbed my ass and I tried to stop him and pull my underwear up. He grabbed my arms and said, 'No no no, it's okay. Just go with it.' And I said: 'Stop, I don't want to be naked. I don't want this.' And he said, 'I won't hurt you.'
Dixon continued,
“Unless someone has been through something where they've had their body taken away, you don't really understand what kind of feelings you get in that moment. Every thought came into my head: run, fight, freeze. I didn't know what to do.”
In an exclusive interview with ABC, Dixon claimed the incident followed another in which Perry climbed into the bed at the guest house the actor was sleeping in and tried to make a move on him.
“I jumped out of bed. He said, 'Turn around so I can look at you,' and just commented on how I looked. And he got up and left,” Dixon said. “I thought after that instance, it was pretty clear that I wasn't interested in that type of relationship…
He claims his asking price of $260 million is the least he owes for being subjected to the harassment. Unless Dixon drops his lawsuit, he and Perry will have their day in court.
