"You want me to hand you the money but you don't wanna work for it" — Tyler Perry explains why he fired his aunt after giving her a job

Tyler Perry says he sacked his aunt after she failed to show up for her job.

During a recent guest appearance on a podcast, the famed director recalled his aunt consistently pestering him for some money. However, instead of just handing it over, Perry offered her a job. However, she never showed up on time and instead expected the money to be handed to her, prompting Perry to fire her.

"I fired my aunt. She said she wanted a job, she would always call to ask for money," he began. "I said, 'okay, I wanna help you, I wanna help you build this thing, not be welfare to you, so lemme give you a job.' She wasn't coming in, calling in [sick] all the time, I said, 'okay, you gotta go.' Because you want me to hand you the money but you don't want to work for it," he told her.

He continued:

"That doesn't work for me, and it's the same way with my son. He's 10 years old, and there's certain things that he wants, but he has to do chores and work for it. I don't believe in giving things that are just gonna handicap us. That is the worst thing you can do, and I've had family members that I've done it to because my mother has asked me to. And when she passed away in 2009, I sent all of 'em letters saying, 'you've got 60 days to become gainfully employed, because I'm not gonna keep supporting you like this.'"

Tyler Perry's former employee accuses him of sexual harassment

The Madea director has been embroiled in controversy in the last few months, after his former employee, Derek Dixon, accused him of sexual harassment and assault. The latter filed a $260 million lawsuit against the entertainment mogul in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 13.

On July 10, Dixon spoke with The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive interview about how he "couldn’t just let him get away with this."

“Everyone deserves to go to work and do their job without their boss trying to have sex with them,” Dixon said. “My goal is to help ensure that the next generation of actors and creatives don’t have to choose between their dreams and their dignity.”

Derek Dixon acted in 85 episodes of Tyler Perry's The Oval, which aired between 2021 and 2025 on BET. During his time there, he alleged that the director made several inappropriate advances on him, which he consistently turned down.

“Tyler Perry has been using his power and influence to molest, abuse, and sexually assault impressionable and vulnerable employees and actors who look to him for guidance and mentorship,” the lawsuit states, per The Guardian.

Per THR, in his complaint, Dixon, who is openly gay, says he “did not know that Perry was interested in men or that he was looking for a sexual relationship." Nonetheless, he told the outlet:

“I’m not going to speak for him on how he identifies sexually. Regardless of his sexual orientation or gender, he should not be speaking to any of his employees whether they be men or women, gay, straight or bisexual about their sexual preferences, how often they’re having sex and physically assaulting them.”

In one instance, Dixon claims he was pinned against the wall against his wishes by Tyler Perry, and in another, the director snuck into bed with him when they were both too inebriated.

"[Perry] climbed into bed with me and began rubbing my thigh. I immediately jumped out of the bed and said, ‘I’m not that sexual’ and stood up until he left the room. I thought that my reaction made it clear that night that I was not interested," he said in his filing.

As reported by The Guardian, Tyler Perry has since denied all these claims in a statement via his attorney, Matthew Boyd, referring to the lawsuit as nothing but a “shakedown."

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

Dixon, however, is not backing down:

"This is why people, especially men, don't come forward," he said of the criticism he has been subjected to, per People Magazine. "I was too afraid to come forward. I knew it would be awful. And I was right."

He also revealed that he tried to settle the case with Tyler Perry before filing his complaint, to no avail:

"There are always attempts to resolve situations like this privately, but they never result in the type of change necessary to protect further victims," he said. "At the end of the day my absolute fear is that he will be able to continue doing this without any major consequences."

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