Tyler Perry’s Lawyer Calls Actor Derek Dixon’s Sexual Assault Lawsuit a ‘Scam’

Tyler Perry’s attorney is calling out accuser Derek Dixon for filing a $260 million lawsuit against Perry.

In June, Dixon accused Perry of quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, retaliation, and more, according to court documents previously obtained by PEOPLE. 

Dixon alleged that Perry, 55, created “a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic” between them while he was starring on the filmmaker’s shows The Oval and Ruthless.

The complaint also accused Perry of “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.”

During his first televised interview since filing the lawsuit, Dixon told ABC News on Tuesday, Sept. 9, he arrived at the amount of $260 million in damages because he lost his job, income and the show. “The other part of that is a deterrent for how do you stop a billionaire who won’t stop themselves from doing this,” he added.

Matthew Boyd, an attorney for Perry, denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News, saying, “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.”

He continued, “Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”

During his sit-down with ABC News, Dixon said he hopes Perry will take “accountability for what happened,” and that the filing taught Perry to “not treat your employees this way and to never use someone’s dream to coerce them into a relationship that’s not professional.”

Dixon said justice for him would be if “something like this won’t happen to another actor that works for him or another actor in the industry.”

Dixon first claimed he and Perry met in September 2019 in Atlanta.

Dixon alleged in the complaint that, over the next few months, Perry often texted him, sometimes with suggestive advances, but also that he wanted to find Dixon a job and change his life. 

Dixon claimed that in November 2019, Perry offered him a small role on Ruthless, and allegedly sexually assaulted him at Perry’s home in January 2020. The next month, Perry offered Dixon a series regular role on The Oval, according to the complaint.

In the filing, Dixon then recounted a moment after filming The Oval, when Perry invited him to his trailer. Perry allegedly pinned Dixon to the wall and began “aggressively groping Dixon’s buttocks in a sexual motion.”

Dixon claimed that he was similarly groped during a cast trip to the Bahamas in October 2020.

Dixon alleged that in December 2020, he visited a physician “who indicated that Dixon’s exhibited severe symptoms of acute stress, insomnia, stomach issues, and dangerously low cortisol levels due to the sexual harassment and assault” and prescribed him Zoloft, an antidepressant.

Perry allegedly invited Dixon to his house again in June 2021 to discuss Dixon’s pilot for his show Losing It, where Perry allegedly sexually assaulted Dixon, per the complaint.

Years later, in January 2023, Dixon informed Perry that he was moving to California to “put some distance” between them.

Dixon continued to star on The Oval, but left during the show’s final season, a move he claimed resulted in him losing out on close to $400,000.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.