Tyler Perry’s sexual assault accuser has repeated his allegations against the entertainment mogul.
Actor Derek Dixon has alleged during his first television interview since filing a $260 million lawsuit the alleged abuse inflicted on him by Tyler, 55, started when the billionaire invited him to stay at his guest home.
Speaking to ABC News Live’s Linsey Davis, Derek described the difficulty of coming forward, saying: “It’s been hard to tell my truth.
“It carries a lot of shame, but I don’t want to stay silent about it anymore.”
Turning to his abuse accusations, Derek added: “I got into bed, and I noticed he climbed into bed with me as well and started rubbing my leg. I jumped up out of bed and he said, ‘Turn around so I can look at you.’”
Derek, known for his role as Dale in Perry’s BET series The Oval, said he made it clear he was not interested in the alleged advances.
He added: “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, but it didn’t.”
Derek claimed another incident followed in which Tyler “pulled (his) underwear down” and “grabbed” his buttocks despite his protests.
He told ABC viewers: “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. I didn’t know what to do.”
According to Derek, he repeatedly attempted to “de-escalate” and “distract” Tyler in response to the alleged behaviour.
He filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January, months after his character was killed off in The Oval.
He claimed this was Tyler’s “way of showing his power.”
Tyler’s legal team have denied the allegations, previously stating Derek attempted to extort more than $40 million in exchange for silence.
In a statement to ABC, Tyler’s lawyer said: “This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam.
“Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”
Derek insisted his lawsuit seeks accountability, not extortion.
He said: “I’m looking for accountability, something to deter him from doing this to someone else.
“How do you stop a billionaire who won’t stop themselves from doing this? Part of that number is my lost job, lost income, loss of the show. The other part of that is a deterrent.”
Asked what he would say directly to Tyler, Derek grew emotional during his TV chat, adding: “Never use someone’s dream to coerce them into a relationship.
“That’s not professional.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nz.news.yahoo.com ’
