Who is Gelila Bekele? Everything to know about Tyler Perry's ex-girlfriend as producer gets sued over sexual harassment 

Tyler Perry has been hit with allegations of sexual abuse by actor Derek Dixon in a $260 million lawsuit.

Perry is accused of engineering "a coercive, sexually exploitive dynamic with Mr. Dixon." The latter, an actor on Perry’s show The Oval, claims that the Madea actor first approached him inappropriately back in January 2020. He had invited him to his home in Atlanta at the time, according to documents obtained by Page Six.

He allegedly drank too much and passed out in one of the guest rooms, which is when the actor climbed into bed with him and rubbed his thighs. However, Dixon says he abruptly turned him down.

“Dixon agreed and was escorted to a separate guest room, not knowing that this was a ruse to allow Perry to assault Dixon. Dixon was tired and did not have pajamas and so he got into bed only wearing underwear. Before he knew what was happening, Dixon felt someone else slip into bed behind him and start rubbing Dixon’s body around his inner thigh in a highly sexual and suggestive manner," the suit states, according to The Guardian.

In his personal life, Tyler Perry shares one son with Gelila Bekele, whom he met back in 2007. He dated the model-cum-activist for a few years, during which time they welcomed Aman Tyler in December 2014. By 2020, they had broken up.

According to IMDb, Bekele started her career as a model in 2006 before making her foray into the world of documentary film in 2013. Some of her famed works include Mai: Life is Not Honey, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, and 2017's The Model Activists. She is also the author of the book Guzo!, which narrates what daily life for an Ethiopian looks like.

Back in November 2023, she directed a documentary based on the actor's life, titled Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story. At the time, she told TODAY.com that she made the film with co-director Armani Ortiz to "capture the full story" of Perry's journey.

"I think the privilege of having that front row seat for so many years gives you access, but as a filmmaker, there's a moral integrity of wanting to sort of encompass the unknown, as well as what you already know. So a lot of research has to go into it. Also, I feel like all my other films were preparing me for this and hopefully, by my next film I've learned a lot from making this one," she said.

The lawsuit against Tyler Perry explored:

In his lawsuit, Dixon is also accusing Tyler Perry of texting him inappropriately, including about his sexual orientation and whether he ever had sex with men. He claims the latter got his number back in 2019, when he wanted to cast him in The Oval.

He also recalled allegedly visiting Perry's home in 2020, out of fear that his character would be killed off from the show if he didn't. At the time, Perry allegedly choked his co-star and told him, “Wow! Look how excited you just got!”

"Mr Perry made it clear to Dixon that if Dixon ignored Perry or failed to engage with the sexual innuendos, Dixon's character would 'die' in the next season," the lawsuit claims. Tyler Perry "always held this over Mr Dixon's head, implying that [his character] 'Dale' would survive if Dixon kept Perry 'happy.'"

In his filing, he said that Tyler Perry promised to further his career but instead subjected him to “escalating sexual harassment, assault, and battery.”

Perry allegedly “held direct control over his employment, compensation, and creative opportunities” and penalized him when he did not reciprocate his "unwanted advances," per The Guardian.

Dixon claims that in order to put an end to the alleged harassment, he quit his job on The Oval and refused an offer from Tyler Perry to work as a writer.

According to the BBC, Tyler Perry's lawyers have since rubbished the claims, calling the lawsuit a "scam" to extort money.

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

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