Another actor has accused Tyler Perry of sexual misconduct.
Mario Rodriguez, who appeared in the 2016 film Boo! A Madea Halloween, has filed a $77 million lawsuit against the filmmaker, alleging that Perry made repeated unwanted sexual advances toward him between 2016 and 2019, according to court documents obtained by People.
The suit contends that Rodriguez resisted Perry's advances and ultimately decided to file suit after The Oval actor Derek Dixon sued the entertainment mogul for sexual harassment in June.
Similar to how Perry's attorney Matthew Boyd responded to Dixon's lawsuit, stating that his client "will not be shaken down," lawyer Alex Spiro called Rodriguez's legal action another attempt to get paid by the same lawyer who's representing Dixon.
“Having recently failed in another matter against Mr. Perry," Spiro told Deadline in a statement, "the very same lawyer has now made yet another demand from more than a decade ago which will also be a failed money grab."
E! News reached out to Spiro and lawyer Jonathan Delshad, who represents both plaintiffs, for comment but has yet to hear back.
Delshad told People that, while Dixon's lawsuit was moved from Los Angeles Superior Court to federal court in Georgia, where Perry's studio is located, the actor's claims "are alive and well, and none of them have failed."
Rodriguez's lawsuit alleges, per People, that he was approached by a trainer at the gym in 2014 about getting in touch with Perry, who then encouraged him to audition for Boo! A Madea Halloween, one of more than a dozen Madea movies written, directed by and starring Perry as the titular matriarch.
Once he was cast, the suit says, Rodriguez was invited to Perry's home and the Alex Cross star allegedly touched him inappropriately while they were watching a movie. That was the first of several alleged sexual advances he accused Perry of in the complaint, which also states that the filmmaker gave Rodriguez $5,000 after two of these alleged incidents, apologized and "sent him away."
At their final encounter in April 2019, the suit alleges, "it was clear that Mr. Perry would do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, to whomever he wanted no matter how many times he was rejected."
Dixon—who was on the Perry-created BET series The Oval from 2021 until 2025, after appearing on two episodes of its spin-off Ruthless—alleged in his June lawsuit that Perry asked him inappropriate questions about his sexuality, groped him on several occasions and offered him acting jobs to keep him quiet.
The suit, obtained by E! News at the time, alleged that, in January 2020, Dixon was spending the night at Perry's Georgia home after a night of drinking when the producer got into his bed and touched him. After ignoring Dixon's texts after the encounter, the suit says, Perry offered him a part on The Oval.
Dixon is seeking $260 million in punitive damages.
“Dixon kept informing Perry that he was not into sex in order to keep Perry at bay," the lawsuit alleged, per court documents obtained by E! News, "while at the same time not insulting the person who was dangling his career in front of him."
Perry's attorney Boyd said in a statement at the time that Dixon tried to get close to Perry “for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam. But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail.”