Tyler Perry hit with new sex assault lawsuit as lawyers dismiss “money grab” claim

US filmmaker Tyler Perry is facing a fresh sexual assault lawsuit from an aspiring actor who alleges the producer subjected him to unwanted sexual advances over several years while holding out the prospect of acting roles.

Mario Rodriguez, a model who secured a minor part as “Frat Guy #10” in Perry’s 2016 film Boo! A Madea Halloween, has filed a civil suit seeking roughly $77m (£60m) in damages.

In court filings, Rodriguez claims Perry first made contact in 2015 after a trainer at a Los Angeles gym approached him saying the director wanted to meet. Rodriguez says Perry later called, offered him a small role and, over time, began inviting him to his home under the pretext of discussing future work.

The complaint alleges that on several occasions those meetings turned into unwanted sexual advances, often after drinking. In one incident in November 2018, Perry is said to have grabbed Rodriguez’s genitals despite being repeatedly told to stop, forcing the actor to “physically struggle” to pull away.

Rodriguez further claims that after two of the alleged encounters, Perry apologised, gave him $5,000 in cash and sent him away. A final incident in April 2019 is described in the suit as the moment it became “clear” Perry “would do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, to whomever he wanted, no matter how many times he was rejected”.

The lawsuit also alleges that Perry continued to contact Rodriguez sporadically through to 2024 and, on learning that legal action was imminent, messaged him again, saying he had “done so much” to help him and felt “betrayed”.

Perry’s legal team has strongly rejected the claims. In a statement on 26 December, his lawyer Alex Spiro said: “Having recently failed in another matter against Mr Perry, the very same lawyer has now made yet another demand from more than a decade ago, which will also be a failed money grab.”

Rodriguez is represented by attorney Jonathan J Delshad, who also acts for actor Derek Dixon in a separate case against Perry. Dixon, who appeared in Perry’s TV drama The Oval, sued in June alleging sexual harassment, assault and retaliation – allegations Perry denies. Delshad insists Dixon’s case “is alive and well” and has simply been transferred from California to Georgia.

In a video posted to Instagram on 13 December, without naming Perry, Rodriguez told his nearly one million followers that he had long felt “scared and ashamed” about speaking out against a “powerful director that everybody knows”. He said he regretted not coming forward sooner, adding: “If I had spoken up sooner, I could’ve saved somebody that this probably happened to after me.”

Another of Perry’s lawyers, Matthew Boyd, previously described Dixon as a man who “got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam”, insisting the filmmaker “will not be shaken down”.

None of the allegations in either case has been tested in court, and no criminal charges have been brought against Perry.