What Is Tyler Perry's Real Name? Fans Are Wondering Amid $260 Million Lawsuit

Tyler Perry is facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit after a former actor from The Oval accused the director of sexual harassment and assault on June 13. The billionaire Madea creator was accused of harassing actor Derek Dixon in the $260 million lawsuit, per TMZ.

Tyler's people are calling the lawsuit a "scam," and he denied the accusations made in the complaint. However, all the drama has fans asking about the famous Straw director, and they want to know Tyler Perry's real name.

Tyler Perry's real name is Emmitt Perry, Jr. The movie mogul was born to Maxine Perry and Emmitt Perry, Sr. He later learned that Emmitt wasn't his real father. Maxine died in 2009, and Tyler honored her in the 2023 documentary, Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, per People.

“I'm Maxine's baby. I am my mother's son,” he said, per People. “That's what's most important to me. When I'm walking around or whatever I'm doing, I'm carrying her in my spirits.”

He also discussed how grieving his late mother has affected his life.

"When you're grieving, you can't really trust yourself. You gotta be careful who you around," he cautioned. "I like to back up and get away, and get alone, and let the grief show up wherever it does. So to everybody who's grieving, who's lost someone in this room, listen to me, just grieve. My prayer for you is that it shows up for you like waves, gentle ones that you can get through from day to day without it overtaking you."

Tyler was accused of sexual harassment and assault by a former actor on The Oval, Derek Dixon. Derek appeared in 85 episodes as well as another television series created by the filmmaker, Ruthless. Derek claims that Tyler began sending him sexually suggestive text messages soon after he got the role on The Oval, such as asking about his sexual preferences. He first met the director in 2019 while working at an event and was offered an audition for Ruthless.

“Mr. Perry took his success and power and used his considerable influence in the entertainment industry to create a coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic with Mr. Dixon," reads the lawsuit, per The Associated Press. "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.”

Derek claims that after drinking too much at Tyler's house in Atlanta, he went to sleep in the guest bedroom and says that the director got into the bed with him and touched his thighs before Derek rejected him. During another occurrence at the director's home, Derek said Tyler groped his buttocks and said, "Relax and just let it happen," before Derek declined.

Matthew Boyd, Tyler's lawyer, denied the claims in a statement.

“This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam,” said Boyd. “But Tyler will not be shaken down, and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”