ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A lawsuit filed against media mogul Tyler Perry alleges that Perry sexually harassed and assaulted an actor who appeared on a show produced by Perry’s production company.

Derek Dixon, who appeared as Dale on The Oval, filed the suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in California on June 13.

The lawsuit claims Perry harassed and sexually assaulted Dixon on multiple occasions after the pair met at an event in Atlanta in 2019, including an assault at Perry’s Douglasville County home in January 2020.

Perry soon began sending unwanted sexual text messages to Dixon, according to the lawsuit, which includes screenshots of several of them.

“What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?” one of the messages says.

The lawsuit says Perry offered Dixon an increasingly prominent role on the show as his sexual advances became more aggressive.

The actor says he tried to remain friendly while maintaining boundaries.

“Dixon did his best to tiptoe around Mr. Perry’s sexual aggression while keeping on Mr. Perry’s good side,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Perry made it clear to Dixon that if Dixon ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendoes, Dixon’s character would ‘die.’”

The lawsuit says Perry eventually sexually assaulted Dixon on “multiple occasions,” including an instance where he “forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothing, groped his buttocks, and attempted to force himself on Dixon.”

Dixon clearly told Perry “No,” but was initially ignored until he was able to de-escalate the situation and change the subject, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Perry made several “escalating quid pro quo offers” to Dixon in exchange for his silence and obedience with Perry’s demands, including promising to shoot a show Dixon wrote; the lawsuit alleges Perry never shot the pilot, instead using it as a means of guaranteeing Dixon’s obedience.

Perry further attempted to control Dixon’s relationships with other men, saying Dixon needed to “sit still this week” after a cast trip to the Bahamas in 2020.

Dixon filed a complaint with the EEOC in 2024, after which he quit from The Oval.

Dixon is seeking $260 million in damages.

“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,“ said Matthew Boyd, attorney for Tyler Perry and TPS Production Services. ”But Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”

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