breaking news coming into law and crime

Actor director and film titan Tyler

Perry is the latest celebrity to be

accused of sexual assault We got our

hands on a new lawsuit filed Friday in

Los Angeles Superior Court by an actor

named Derek Dixon who starred on one of

Perry’s hit shows We want to break down

this lawsuit and what it could mean for

the movie mogul We’re on the case

presented by Law and Crime I’m Chris

Stewart

So to start off Dixon is suing Tyler

Perry the individual as well as his

production studio That studio is called

TPS Production Services LLC That stands

for Tyler Perry Studios in Action LLC

And he is looking for $260 million Dixon

who portrayed a lead role in Perry’s

show called The Oval is claiming 10

causes of action for the civil suit quid

proquo sexual harassment work

environment sexual harassment sexual

harassment workplace gender violence

violation of the Bane Act a California

law that protects against violation of

someone’s civil rights through force or

coercion sexual battery sexual assault

negligent retention intentional

infliction of emotional distress and

retaliation Let’s get into this lawsuit

The complaint starts off by saying quote

“This case arises from a sustained

pattern of workplace sexual harassment

assault and retaliation perpetrated by

Tyler Perry a powerful media mogul

against plaintiff Derek Dixon a

professional actor and screenwriter Mr

Perry is an American actor filmmaker and

playwright who has built one of the most

successful careers in the film and

television industry Mr Perry took his

success and power and used his

considerable influence in the

entertainment industry to create a

coercive sexually exploitive dynamic

with Mr Dixon Initially promising him

career advancement and creative

opportunities such as producing his

pilot and casting him in his show only

to subject him to escalating sexual

harassment assault and battery and

professional retaliation when Mr Dixon

did not reciprocate Mr Perry’s unwanted

advances These events occurred while Mr

Dixon was employed as a series regular

on the Tyler Perry show The Oval And

while Mr Perry held direct control over

his employment compensation and creative

opportunities this lawsuit even compares

Perry to some other infamous celebrities

who have been called out for their

behavior in the past Quote just like

Harvey Weinstein Bill Cosby R Kelly

Shawn P Diddy Combmes Kevin Spacy Roger

Als and many others in the industry Mr

Perry’s success has led him to believe

that money and influence can get him

whatever he wants That belief slowly

transformed into the false idea that Mr

Perry can get whomever he wants

According to the lawsuit Dixon was

working as part of an event staff at a

party that Perry was hosting in Atlanta

when Perry noticed him and offered him

the chance to audition for a part in one

of his hit TV shows Before we get back

to this bombshell lawsuit involving

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Dixon did have a small part on Perry’s

show called Ruthless Then he returned to

his event staff job through which he was

hired to work at Perry’s parties in

places like Los Angeles and Jackson Hole

Wyoming As Dixon spent more time with

Perry he says that Perry would flirt

with him through text messages and his

advances became more aggressive Dixon

claims that he was invited to Perry’s

Georgia home where he and Perry drank

together When Perry told him he was too

drunk to drive and offered him his guest

bedroom Dixon says he accepted But then

he claims that while he was asleep Perry

climbed into bed with him and tried to

initiate sex Dixon says he tried to

distance himself from Perry but he was

offered a role on Perry’s show The Oval

The lawsuit then reads “Dixon did his

best to tiptoe around Tyler Perry’s

sexual aggression while keeping on Mr

Perry’s good side 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 Indeed Dixon’s character

Dale was shot four times in the chest at

the end of his first season on the oval

and Perry always held this over Dixon’s

head implying that Dale would survive if

Dixon kept Perry quote happy According

to the complaint Perry had made it clear

to Dixon that he would kill characters

in order to get an actor to be loyal or

obedient during the pandemic Dixon says

Perry convinced him to stay in one of

the houses that was part of Tyler Perry

Studios Quote “In or around April of

2020 and while Dixon was living in the

studio homes on set Perry often coerced

Dixon to drink alcohol and then get on

the phone with Perry Perry would

frequently have someone drop off alcohol

at Dixon’s door Perry would eventually

turn these phone calls into sexually

explicit rants Perry would get

frustrated with Dixon and tell Dixon

that he was not giving Perry quote what

he needs Dixon’s refusal to succumb to

Perry’s sexual advances caused Perry to

be ever more frustrated Eventually Perry

warned Dixon that if Dixon told his

castmates about the harassment Dixon

would be opening himself up to lots of

quote questions and foolishness and

demanded that Dixon not discuss any of

their conversations with his castmates

Dixon’s lawsuit also listed out some of

the sexual commentary by Perry that

Dixon claimed he experienced while

filming The Oval in 2020 This is what he

says that Perry told him Dixon said that

Perry told him quote that he liked being

choked That was after Dixon’s character

was choked by a cast member in a scene

on The Oval Perry also allegedly said

“Why do you twist your hips when you

walk how can I get a day of Dixon when

will you be thick again i love how I

feel right now but I don’t like being

horny I feel sorry for the first person

who flirts with me and I’ve been trying

to put that energy somewhere else but

everything is sexual on this stuff.” The

lawsuit also contained numerous text

messages from Perry to Dixon some of

which seemed to have been sent when

Perry was intoxicated And if Dixon

didn’t respond according to the

complaint Perry would hound him Dixon

also claims the harassment turned

physical Quote “On multiple occasions Mr

Perry sexually assaulted Mr Dixon

including one instance where he forcibly

pulled off Mr Dixon’s clothing groped

his buttocks and attempted to force

himself on Dixon.” Mr Dixon told a

drunken Perry no and attempted to remove

Mr Perry’s hands but Mr Perry held

tightly onto Dixon’s wrists Mr Dixon was

only able to escape after deescalating

the situation by abruptly changing the

subject The day after the assault Mr

Perry called and texted Mr Dixon

relentlessly saying “Tried you call me

and I really need to talk to you Please

call me as soon as you can.” And finally

when Mr Dixon answered Tyler Perry’s

call Mr Perry profusely apologized for

the sexual assault while blaming it on

other things Perry continued quote “He

didn’t know why he would do that Maybe

he was self-sabotaging.” On the very

same call where he apologized for the

sexual assault against Dixon Perry told

Dixon quote “And don’t worry we’re going

to do your show.” Referring to the pilot

that Perry knew Mr Dixon had desperately

wanted to produce Shortly thereafter Mr

Dixon got a call from Perry’s lawyer

saying that Christmas had come early and

that Dixon was getting a substantial

raise and the show was green lit Perry’s

attorney explicitly warned Dixon not to

tell any other actor on the show about

Dixon’s raise because no other actors

were getting a raise only Dixon Later in

the lawsuit Dixon’s lawyers write in or

around April 2022 before beginning to

shoot the next season of The Oval Perry

called Dixon to discuss the June 2021

sexual assault On the phone call Perry

lectured Dixon about how Dixon was

overreacting to the sexual assault

because of prior sexual assaults in

Dixon’s life Perry said that there was a

misunderstanding and miscommunication

and that Dixon needed to say no stronger

In other words Perry blamed Dixon for

the sexual assault claiming that Perry

felt that Dixon’s no was really a yes

because Dixon did not say no strongly

enough Dixon says he finally quote woke

up to the fact that Perry was allegedly

stringing him along about working with

him on his own show to keep him around

to be sexually harassed In 2024 Dixon

reported Perry’s alleged conduct to the

EEOC the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission According to the lawsuit

after reporting the sexual harassment

defendants which is Perry and his studio

did not make any investigation into the

complaint and did not take any steps to

prevent further harassment from

occurring Because defendants took no

action to prevent further assault or

harassment Dixon had to quit his job

working on the last season of The Oval

Dixon did so even though he was under

contract to finish filming and stood to

make close to $400,000

Dixon did not want to be sexually

harassed or be placed in danger of a

sexual assault again Defendant then

retaliated against Dixon Defendant told

Dixon if he quits and told the other

actors why he quit he would be in breach

of his contract Defendants told Dixon

that the only way out was to portray his

departure from the show as a medical

leave due to the emotional distress

caused by the sexual harassment Instead

defendant made the leave of absence

unpaid and therefore terminated

plaintiff’s employment causing Dixon

additional loss of income and insult But

Tyler Perry is fighting back In a

statement an attorney for Perry

reportedly said the allegations are a

quote scam The attorney went on to say

“We are confident these fabricated

claims of harassment will fail.” The

attorney who according to TMZ is

identified as Matthew Boyd said in full

“This is an individual who got close to

Tyler Perry for what now appears to be

nothing more than setting up a scam But

Tyler will not be shaken down and we are

confident these fabricated claims of

harassment will fail.” Joining us now is

former federal prosecutor and president

of West Coast Trial Lawyers Nemo Romani

Thank you for taking the time as always

to be with us here on Law and Crime I I

know we’re still gathering information

about exactly what uh Derek Dixon is

accusing Tyler Perry of but from what we

know right now how strong of a case does

it seem that he has chris thanks for

having me Really breaking news today

Bombshell lawsuit against Tyler Perry

and information is coming in but it does

seem to be a strong case at least in

terms of the text messages Sometimes in

these sexual harassment cases really the

harassing behavior happens behind closed

doors and it’s a he said he said or he

said she said or she said she said type

situation But text messages are

fantastic whether you’re a prosecutor or

a civil plaintiff’s lawyer like I am And

looks like Dixon may have the receipts

in this case Yeah he’s he’s looking for

$260 million even though Tyler Perry is

a billionaire That’s still in terms of

net worth just from what I’ve been

reading online Um $260 million is is a

lot of money What does that tell you and

and when someone sues someone like in

this instance it’s not a criminal case

and you’re looking for a specific amount

of money What goes into determining what

that is yeah lawyers can say all sorts

of things Really ultimately what matters

is what they ask the jury for So they

can ask for less or more during closing

arguments So I usually put that aside It

gets a lot of good headlines but I can’t

imagine this case being worth nine

figures Sexual harassment is wrong No

one should be subject to it And

sometimes you get these nuclear verdicts

or runaway juries but I can’t imagine a

case like this going for that amount

even though like I said I don’t condone

any of this behavior No in and Derek

Dixon he has some text messages that um

that that very much show I mean if Tyler

Perry was someone who was supposed to be

professionally his boss that was going

to open up a career opportunities it’s

not something that um a boss would be

allowed to say to an employee if that

was their relationship When it comes to

this case what’s the bar that Derrick

Dixon would have to prove in court to

get money from Tyler Perry so there’s a

few different claims and they’re all

very serious I’m not trying to downplay

any of this There’s a sexual assault

right grabbing his buttocks pulling his

underwear down That’s pretty serious

stuff And then you have sexual

harassment What I say is really the

worst kind of sexual harassment which is

the quidd proquo That means hey you know

if you

perform sexually I will help your career

and if you don’t I’m going to retaliate

And the argument here is that Dixon was

going to be written off the show if he

didn’t comply with these sexual demands

So you know when you go to law school or

study employment law that is the

textbook quidd proquo sexual harassment

this for that You give me something you

get a benefit and if you don’t you’re

going to be punished

And Tyler Perry I mean he is an

institution as in Hollywood He’s he’s

not the type of person if you were an

actor that you would want um you

wouldn’t want to be on his bad list Um

their relationship started around 2019

The most serious incident according to

what we know thus far is that incident

where he was wearing said he was only

having Derek Dixon said he was staying

at Tyler Perry’s guest house in Atlanta

Um he was only wearing underwear and

Tyler Perry apparently pulled his

underwear down That was back in 2021

It’s now 2025 What do you make of of the

timeline that it took for Derek Dixon to

come forward with these allegations if

they’re true well that’s one of the

arguments the defense always makes right

is well if you were sexually assaulted

or harassed you know why did you stay

why didn’t you report it right away what

I love as a plaintiff’s lawyer is a

contemporaneous report So hopefully they

have that And I understand he’s been

getting therapy since 2020 So if he

mentioned this to his therapist that

would certainly be helpful in addition

to the text message evidence that we had

Sometimes victims don’t want to come

forward right you’re talking about a

rich and famous individual and look at

what’s happened Perry’s lawyer came out

and said “This guy’s lying This is a

shakedown This is extortion.” Right they

always go after the victim And we don’t

know if the allegations are true in this

case or not but very few sexual

harassment cases are reported or

litigated And often times the harassers

they get away with it So you know if you

read the lawsuit in this case it’s it’s

definitely meant for public consumption

It has those text messages embedded in

Uh and it starts by comparing Tyler

Perry to the Harvey Weinstein and

Diddies of the world And I’m not saying

uh we’ve gotten that far but those are

serious sex trafficking sexual assault

allegations Sexual harassment is wrong

And there is some sexual assault

certainly alleged in this case but um

sometimes people don’t want to come

forward because if you’re a victim

you’re going to have to really tell your

story in a very very public way What is

interesting though is under California

law you could have filed as a John Doe

or a Jane Doe and he chose not to So I

thought that was interesting Yeah What

does that tell you because in some ways

I could see if I was the defense to say

Derek Dixon wants some notoriety He’s

not a household name He hasn’t been in a

lot of high-profile shows He was in a

couple Tyler Perry shows but uh if

you’re the defense and do you look at

that that he didn’t file as a John Doe

and say “Look this is proof that this

was a shakedown,” which is the term that

they’ve used Look it’s interesting

Obviously the fact that he didn’t file

as a John that’s not an argument that

the defense can make But really and I

I’ve sued a lot of celebrities I’m

sitting here in Hollywood right now I’ve

represented some but sued a lot more

more So I’ve handled a lot of cases like

this Most of the time the victims will

come in and when I explain what a

lawsuit entails they have paws right

like oh my god you know people are going

to come after me They’re going to drag

me on social media They’re going to call

me a liar I’m never going to work again

in Hollywood right after making an

accusation like this And then I tell

them you know there are certain

circumstances where you can file as a

Jane Doe or a John Doe And most of the

time the victims do want to avail

themselves of that protection Now

sometimes the defense lawyers they hate

it because they think that it allows you

know the victims to smear the defendants

Even in the Diddy case in the civil case

some of the judges have unmasked the

victims And obviously that’s New York

law and federal court A little bit

different right but in California the

protection is pretty broad And most of

the time the victims do want to proceed

anonymously to at least protect

themselves and their families

when it comes to and and as someone who

has represented people who have been in

the seat that that Derek Dixon sits

right now where they say they have been

through something traumatic and they are

going after a very strong and powerful

person You look at that $260 million

number The timing of this coming out I

mean Tyler Perry has this show it’s a

movie straw It’s the most popular

Netflix movie of 2025 thus far Um 50

million views in its second week and

then here’s this lawsuit that comes out

The defense might look at that and say

“Well you’re being opportunistic.” But

at the same time I mean if you are suing

someone powerful how much does the

timing factor into when you unveil this

lawsuit you know there is a PR component

as well Litigation is about leverage And

I would be lying if I didn’t consider

that I’ve come on lawn crime and I’ve

talked about lawsuits you know I filed

against Kanye or Lizo or any number of

celebrities right because it can put

pressure on them to settle Now sometimes

they dig in their heels and you know

that’s what judges and juries are for

But if you are trying to advocate on

behalf of your client whether it’s a

confidential settlement demand uh a

mediation or litigating it in the court

of public opinion it matters right i

mean you’re looking at the Justin

Baldoni Blake Lively case That case is

almost as much outside the courtroom as

it actually is in the courtroom because

you know everyone cares about the

reputation in Hollywood and whether it’s

cancel culture or just bad press it can

force a defendant to settle So that’s a

tool that you have to use if you’re a

plaintiff’s attorney representing

victims like this How likely is it that

the plaintiff’s attorneys had spoken

with Tyler Perry’s representation ahead

of this news coming out today i think

it’s very likely there’s two types of

lawyers and I don’t know this uh

particular lawyer personally but I could

tell you that most of the time a lawyer

will send a demand right they’ll send a

demand they’ll enter into negotiations

they’ll break down and that’s what will

happen I mean in Cassy’s case there were

you know pre

filing negotiations with Diddy’s team

and they ran out of time I personally

don’t like doing that For me if I’m

going to take a case I’m taking it

because I believe that it’s a righteous

case and I’m going to file a lawsuit I

don’t like to bark if I’m going to fight

But again it’s a personal preference

that I have There’s all sorts of

problems with the you know

pre-litigation demand You know they say

that this is a shakedown This is

extortion This isn’t about justice So

personally I like to file my lawsuit I

don’t ask for a specific number I say

“You know what i’m going to talk to the

jury when the time is right.” You know

because that helps you know avoid the

defense’s argument that this person’s

asking for $200 million and you know

he’s never made you know more than

$200,000 in his entire life I think he’s

saying the loss of earnings here is

$400,000 You know where you’re getting

at this number it’s astronomical So you

know you avoid some of that bad press

and that backlash by just filing your

lawsuit and moving the case forward And

with that considering Dixon is not he’s

not a millionaire He’s certainly not in

the in the same financial category as

Tyler Perry how much money does it cost

him to keep this going if Tyler Perry

wants to fight back well these cases we

handle at our firm on a contingency fee

basis which means we’re not getting paid

hourly We get a percentage So if we take

a case we believe that we can win and we

can collect So most lawyers who handle

these cases work on that basis Some of

them will charge hourly The reason we do

this is that way we sort of have skin in

the game and we’re working side by side

with our client because you’re right it

can be very very expensive to pay

lawyers So again talking about other

cases but that are happening right now

My estimate for Diddy’s daily burn you

know to litigate his case it’s probably

$100,000 a day somewhere in that number

or close to it So it can be very very

expensive to try a case That’s why

unless you have significant financial

means many of the victims they do decide

do you know what let me hire a lawyer

Let me pay them a percentage That way

I’m not out of pocket in this case

Because then I think and I was thinking

about Diddy because he is facing all

those civil lawsuits as well and even if

some of those lawsuits don’t hold up um

it still costs money to have an attorney

argue on your behalf in court on Tyler

Perry’s side and I’m sure he has 18 he

probably has an entire law firm um at

his disposal with the money he has but

financially from his side of this what

does the cost look like in pushing back

and you also wonder and I I don’t know

this for sure but if this is you know if

there’s more lawsuits that come forward

and you have people who say that there

were these types of these types of

allegations that hasn’t happened but I

think if in Diddy’s case you saw one

after another come forward Financially

for Tyler Perry what could this look

like well it can look bad So obviously

like you said Chris I expect that Tyler

Perry has a small army of lawyers on

retainer And there’s going to be

individuals that have experience

handling employment cases employment

defense lawyers This is what they do all

day every day They’re going to handle

the case and I expect them to be part of

some big firm uh here in Los Angeles or

in Georgia uh where you know where uh

Tyler Perry lives even though the

lawsuit’s been filed here So you know

when you’re when you’re talking about

other victims though that is a real

concern And again I’m not saying these

allegations are true But if they are

Chris often times abusers abuse more

than one victim right obviously in the

Diddy case right everyone came out

almost 100 victims But even in Weinstein

right that’s what Me Too is all about

It’s not just me There’s other people

that were affected and were harassed So

if the allegations are true and I were

Tyler Perry I would have big concerns

that you know what other people are

going to come forward and it might be a

snowball type effect And and just

reading through the text messages that

we have just read within the last hour

of recording this I mean they’re pretty

damning you know even if the allegations

aren’t true to see what Tyler Perry was

texting someone who he had promised jobs

to Like it changes the way someone may

view Tyler Perry if you’re a fan of his

work What type of conversations would

his legal team have if it comes to

settling this case or continuing forward

and fighting it knowing that more text

messages potentially could come out i

would have serious concerns if Tyler

Perry is indeed sending text messages

talking about wanting to exploitative

you know people that are subordinates

right that is what you are not supposed

to do And you know everyone’s supposed

to go through sexual harassment training

in California but like as someone that

has done defense work in the past I mean

I would cringe as a plaintiff’s lawyer

victim’s lawyer I’m like “Wow this is

smoking gun evidence.” It’s bad You

can’t be talking to your employees or

people that are under your supervision

about sex You can’t be grabbing them I

mean this is some of the worst

employment conduct that can happen aside

from there being actual penetration So

he’s got pretty significant exposure if

these texts are real I would be very

concerned if I were Tyler Perry in his

defense team Because then on the flip

side if you settle this it doesn’t go

away Then it’s like cuz I think in

Diddy’s case with Cassie he settles that

lawsuit and then suddenly everybody says

“Well he actually did this.” There was

obviously evidence with the with the

tape in LA and his situation But what

are the concerns if your client has to

settle in hopes that it goes away

knowing that just the headline that you

settled a lawsuit is now out in the

public yeah that’s something I prepare

my clients for I’m like listen you know

if there’s a settlement people are going

to think that it’s a payoff and that it

was righteous So sometimes these

defendants they care about the

reputation more than the money They make

you go go get a judgment So there is the

very real possibility that you know this

lawyer and his client are going to have

to go all the way because it’s not about

you know millions of dollars for Tyler

Perry It’s about his reputation and he

might just push this case all the way to

trial to clear his name right i mean

that’s what happened in Johnny Depp

Amber Heard right it was about clearing

Johnny Depp’s name or you know Justin

Baldon Blake Lively It’s about their

name I don’t think Blake Lively needs

money from Justin Baldoni right her and

Ryan Reynolds are reportedly worth a

billion dollars but I think they’re

trying to send a message and they want

to make sure that their reputation is

pristine in Hollywood knowing that this

lawsuit just dropped within the last

hour Uh what is the timeline look like

until this if he wanted to take this to

trial how long could that be away so

this case is in federal court in the

central district in Los Angeles which

tends to move a little bit faster than

state court State courts here are

notoriously backed up you know 18 to 24

months We may get a trial in 2026

you know so that’s pretty fast Uh you

know it’s certainly not going to happen

anytime soon The parties have to engage

in discovery So that means written

questions back and forth that have to be

answered under a penalty of perjury

There’s depositions which is a recorded

interview under oath So if we’re going

to trial you know in early or mid 2026

that’s pretty fast for the civil justice

system but we’re probably looking at

later in 2026 if I were a guessing man

Yeah And it’ll be interesting to see

just how this story you know over

someone who is is beloved by so many

people how that impacts the public

perception You think of Derek Dixon what

he allegedly went through as well Um

just reading those text messages it’s

pretty shocking Nemo Romani thank you as

always for taking the time to be with us

on Law and Crime We appreciate it Of

course Thanks for having me Chris Always

glad to be on That will do it for On the

Case presented by Law and Crime

Subscribe to us on YouTube and Spotify

I’m Chris Stewart We’ll see you next

time

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