As fans and the industry continue to reel over Tyler Perry''s shocking sexual assault lawsuit lobbed against him by a former actor, a different actor is now back in the headlines. Check the breakdown.
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As we told you earlier this week, Black Hollywood was rocked when the news broke that the prolific writer/director/producer was being sued for $260 million by Derek Dixon, an actor in Perry's popular White House drama "The Oval." According to court documents, Dixon is accusing Perry of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and retaliation and claimed that claims that the "Madea" creator promised him career advancement and creative opportunities.
Once the suit made its way to social media, it jogged the memory of another accuser from the Perry universe: Christian Keyes. In December 2023, Keyes hopped on Instagram Live and alleged that he had endured similar behavior, specifically years of sexual harassment, at the hands of a very powerful Hollywood figure years ago.
At the time, he said that this figure claimed he had a "payroll" of young men at his beck and call and that other people were starting to come forward with their negative stories about him.
While Keyes never mentioned Perry by name, he did say that the man in question was a giant, beloved figure and mentioned that he began carrying a pen or keychain recorder around him beginning in 2005. That year just so happens to mark the same year he starred in Perry's film "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."
Still, even without the direct Perry mention, that didn't keep people from mentioning Keyes and the possible connection his words may have to this new case. It should also be worth noting here that aside from the initial video, Keyes has yet to make any other public comments about the allegations he revealed.
"I remember when Christian Keyes had everyone playing Guess Who trying to figure who was the black billionaire in Hollywood who wanted him to bend over and grab his ankles," wrote one user on X/Twitter. "MOST and I do mean MOST people thought it was Tyler Perry, and I don’t remember too many people thinking he was lying. Fast forward a white man comes out and now it’s shake down because Tyler Perry is a wealthy black man."
"The same story Derek Dixon is sharing of his alleged sexual assault from Tyler Perry is the SAME story Christian Keyes shared about a “Black Hollywood giant” that he’s worked w/ for yrs before he was bullied into deleting his videos from IG. Believe survivors the FIRST time," said another.
"To me this kinda confirms christian keyes allegations were possibly about tyler perry, but since everybody was tryna prove him wrong and dog on him i think he got scared n said it wasn’t. tyler got a dark spirit. just look at the way he depicts abuse of black women in his work," one other user wrote.
Added another, "Christian Keyes was on tik tok a while back saying shit similar to what Derek Dixon is saying but didn’t want to name names. Everybody was in the comments saying we knew he was referring to Tyler Perry. The people (myself included) been telling y’all for YEARS he was up to no damn good but, you know, “HE PAYS BLACK ACTORS”!!! Ok girl."
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