Derek Dixon, the man who filed a $260 million lawsuit against Tyler Perry, has spoken out in his first interview since his legal filing made headlines back in June.
Speaking to ABC News, Dixon detailed the alleged assault and said he did not believe Perry would ever stop the abuse.
“We were both walking back to the guest area, where I’d stayed before, and there’s this health monitor scale on the way,” Dixon recalled to ABC News’ Linsey Davis. “He reached down and pulled my underwear down and grabbed my a– and I tried to stop him… He kind of grabbed my arms and said, ‘No, no, no, it’s okay. Just go with it.’ And I said, ‘Stop, I don’t want to be naked. I don’t want this.’ And he said, ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’”
Dixon said he eventually locked himself in the bathroom. The next day, Perry allegedly called to apologize. Dixon claims another incident happened when Perry “climbed into bed” with him during a prior stay. “I thought after that instance, it was pretty clear that I was not interested… I thought it would stop after that, and it didn’t.”
He also alleged Perry sent repeated sexually suggestive texts, creating fear of retaliation. Dixon pointed to his character being shot in Season 2 of The Oval as a sign of Perry’s influence. “For me, that was his way of showing power over us and our careers,” he said.
Dixon described being left in “a constant state” of anxiety: “If I don’t answer, I will lose my job. I will be fired or killed off the show.”
Perry has previously denied the allegations, with his attorneys calling the lawsuit a “shakedown.”