Derek Dixon, the actor who accused of Tyler Perry of sexual harassment, is speaking out for the first time.
Derek appeared on Tyler‘s BET series The Oval for seasons 2-6. In June, Derek filed a $260 million lawsuit accusing the 55-year-old media mogul of sexual assault.
Tyler‘s lawyer quickly called the filing a “scam” and now, Derek is speaking out for the first time.
Keep reading to find out more…
Derek spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Thursday (July 10). In the interview, Derek explained his decision to come forward with his accusations against Tyler and shared more of his story.
“Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them. My goal is to help ensure that the next generation of actors and creatives don’t have to choose between their dreams and their dignity,” Derek told THR.
In the interview, the actor refused to speculate on Tyler‘s sexuality, instead saying, “Regardless of his sexual orientation or gender, he should not be speaking to any of his employees whether they be men or women, gay, straight or bisexual about their sexual preferences, how often they’re having sex and physically assaulting them.”
Derek says that at one point, he shared a script for a pilot he had written with Tyler who said that he wanted to produce it. According to Derek, the idea of having his project take off lead him to overlooking some of the producer’s behavior.
“I now realize I let my gratefulness for what he’d done for me cloud my self-respect,” Derek shared with the publication. Later in the interview, the actor discussed an incident in which he visited Tyler‘s house to discuss progress on the pilot but alleges that he was assaulted while at his house with the producer attempting to take his clothes off without his consent.
Derek revealed in the interview he was afraid for the future of his acting career if he came forward with his accusations earlier. He told the publication, “I was too afraid to come forward. I knew it would be awful. And I was right.”
Derek says that in June 2024, he made the decision to quit his role on The Oval and made a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is still pending.
“At the end of the day my absolute fear is that he will be able to continue doing this without any major consequences,” Derek said of his decision to go public with the lawsuit instead of trying to work out his complaint privately.
