Derek Dixon has opened up about his sexual assault accusations towards Tyler Perry, amid the multi-hyphenate vehemently denying them and labeling them a “shakedown.”
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After suing Perry for sexual assault and harassment, Dixon sat down for an interview on ABC Information on Tuesday, September 9, to element his allegations towards the author, director, and producer. Dixon, who’s an actor, says he was exploited by Perry whereas starring on his BET collection The Oval, whereas Perry’s attorneys have issued statements denying his claims.
Within the new interview, Dixon described an alleged incident included within the lawsuit, by which he says Perry “pulled my underwear down and grabbed my a**” after an evening of consuming at Perry’s house in Atlanta.
“We have been each strolling again to the visitor space, the place I’d stayed earlier than, and there’s this well being monitor scale on the best way. I used to be like, ‘What’s that?’ And he stated, ‘Effectively it’s a must to be in your underwear to measure,” Dixon recalled. “He reached down and pulled my underwear down and grabbed my ass and I attempted to cease him and pull again my underwear up. He form of grabbed my arms and stated, ‘No no no, it’s okay. Simply go together with it.’ And I stated, ‘Cease, I don’t need to be bare. I don’t need this.’ And he stated, ‘I’m not going to harm you.’”
He continued, “Until somebody’s been by way of one thing the place they’ve their management over their physique taken away, you don’t actually perceive the form of emotions that you just get in that second. Each thought got here into my head: to run, to struggle, to freeze. I didn’t know what to do.”
Dixon claims the night ended with him locking himself within the visitor home toilet. The following day, he says Perry referred to as to apologize. The actor additionally alleges that previous to the incident, he had stayed at Perry’s visitor home and through that keep, the filmmaker allegedly “climbed into mattress” with him and “began rubbing my leg.”
“I jumped up off the bed. He stated, ‘Flip round so I can take a look at you,’ and simply commented on how I seemed. And he obtained up and left,” Dixon claimed within the interview. “I assumed after that occasion, it was fairly clear that I used to be not curious about that sort of a relationship. … It’s okay that individuals attempt to make a transfer or shoot their shot, but when they get rejected I believe that they need to cease. I assumed it will cease after that and it didn’t.”
The actor went on to say that Perry despatched him a number of texts with sexual connotations. In his lawsuit, Dixon says he feared skilled retaliation if he ignored Perry’s messages. Dixon’s character was shot a number of instances in an episode of The Oval Season 2, a scripting choice that Dixon took as, “If I don’t make him completely satisfied, I may keep lifeless on the present.”
“For me, that was his method of displaying energy over us and our careers,” Dixon defined to ABC’s Linsey Graham. “I used to be extraordinarily anxious. The calls and texts have been virtually on a regular basis. This fixed state of, ‘If I don’t reply, I’ll lose my job. I shall be fired or killed off the present.’ It took an enormous toll on my anxiousness and melancholy.”
Dixon left The Oval in September 2024, per Selection. His lawsuit towards Perry was filed in June 2025, by which he seeks $260 million in punitive damages from Perry.
