Tyler Perry Accuser Derek Dixon Says He Refuses to ‘Stay Silent’

Actor and screenwriter Derek Dixon detailed his sexual abuse allegations against Tyler Perry in his first televised interview.

Dixon sat down with ABC News for an interview that aired Tuesday, Sept. 9, and said he refuses to “stay silent.”

In June, the actor filed a $260 million lawsuit against the billionaire media mogul alleging quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery, sexual assault, workplace harassment and other claims.

Related: Tyler Perry Accused in Lawsuit of Sexually Assaulting ‘The Oval’ Actor Derek Dixon
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Perry, through his attorney, vehemently denied the allegations.

“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam. But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail,” Matthew Boyd, attorney for Perry’s TPS Production Services, LLC, said at the time.

Speaking to ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, Dixon insisted he filed the complaint because Perry won’t stop himself from allegedly preying on others.

Dixon told Davis he is seeking real “accountability.”

The actor appeared on 85 episodes of Perry’s BET series The Oval. He said he landed the role of “Dale” after meeting Perry in 2019, while working a catering job at the opening party in Atlanta of Tyler Perry Studios. That night, he said Perry asked if he was an actor and suggested they connect.

Early on, Dixon said Perry bought him a car. “He’d seen my jeep around the studio that I was driving and he said, ‘that’s not a great car,'” Dixon stated.

The actor detailed alleged advances he said Perry made via text message and in person, which were also described in his lawsuit.

In one incident, the actor alleged Perry slid in bed with him while he was staying in the mogul’s guest quarters after drinking too much.

“I got into bed, and I noticed he climbed into bed with me as well and started rubbing my leg,” Dixon told Davis. “I jumped up out of bed and he said, ‘Turn around so I can look at you.’”

The actor insisted he was “pretty clear” that he was not interested “in that type of relationship” with Perry.

“I think it’s OK that people try to make a move or shoot their shot but if they get rejected, I think that they should stop. I thought it would stop after that, and it didn’t,” he told Davis.

He said there was another incident at Perry’s home, when the mogul allegedly “reached down, pulled my underwear down and grabbed my ass. I tried to stop him and pull my underwear back up and he grabbed my arms and said, ‘No, no, no, it’s okay. Just go with it.'”

Dixon said he was clear that he did not want to be intimate, but he alleged “[Perry] just continued.”

“Unless someone has been through something having the control of their body taken away, you don’t understand the feelings that you have in that moment,” Dixon said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

The actor said after rejecting Perry’s alleged advances, his character on The Oval was shot multiple times. He told Davis he saw that as a sign that his job was in jeopardy.

“What it meant to me was if I don’t make him happy, I could stay dead on the show,” he stated.

Dixon filed his 46-page lawsuit on June 13, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, as previously reported.

The complaint alleged Perry uses his “power and influence to molest, abuse, and sexually assault impressionable and vulnerable employees and actors who look to him for guidance and mentorship while pursuing their dreams.”

The suit included copies of text messages purportedly exchanged between Perry and Dixon. One text allegedly sent by Perry said: “I would hope that you would let someone hold you and make love to you.”

The complaint alleged Dixon was assaulted while visiting Perry’s private island in the Bahamas, where the cast traveled for a party.

Dixon filed a harassment complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), before moving forward with a lawsuit. The actor is seeking a jury trial, attorneys’ fees, and $260 million in damages.

You can watch the ABC News interview here.