By Lisa Richwine
(Reuters) -An actor on the U.S. BET television show “The Oval” has filed a civil lawsuit that accuses media mogul Tyler Perry of repeated sexual assault and harassment.
Derek Dixon is seeking $260 million in punitive damages from Perry in a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court and reported by TMZ on Tuesday.
In the suit, Dixon accuses Perry of “a sustained pattern of workplace sexual harassment, assault and retaliation.”
An attorney for Perry called the lawsuit “a scam.”
“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than a scam,” attorney Matthew Boyd said in a statement. “But Tyler Perry will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Perry is a successful actor, writer and producer of dozens of TV shows and films, including the “Madea” movie series. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.4 billion.
The lawsuit claims Perry met Dixon when he was working on the event staff at a party Perry was hosting, and that Perry offered him a role on the series “Ruthless” in 2019 and a bigger part later on “The Oval.”
Dixon alleges that Perry sent unwanted, sexually suggestive text messages to him. The suit includes screenshots of what it said were exchanges between the two.
“What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” said one of the messages that Dixon said was from Perry.
After the messages, Perry’s behavior escalated to sexual assault, the lawsuit said.
One night at Perry’s home, the lawsuit said, Perry told Dixon he was too drunk to drive and urged him to stay in a guest room. Dixon said he woke up in the middle of the night to find Perry in bed with him and rubbing his thigh.
In another case, Perry “forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothing, groped his buttocks, and attempted to force himself on Dixon,” the lawsuit said.
Dixon tried to remain friendly with Perry while rebuffing his advances in order to keep his job, the lawsuit said. Perry made it clear to Dixon that his TV character could be killed off if he ignored Perry or did not take part in his “sexual innuendos,” the lawsuit said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine;Editing by Mary Milliken and Rosalba O’Brien)
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