{"id":372178,"date":"2025-12-27T01:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T01:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/372178\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T01:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T01:39:05","slug":"tyler-perry-sued-for-sexual-assault-by-boo-a-madea-halloween-actor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/372178\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Perry Sued for Sexual Assault By \u2018Boo! A Madea Halloween\u2019 Actor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTyler Perry<\/a> has been sued for sexual battery by an actor who appeared in Boo! A Madea Halloween and accuses the entertainment mogul of multiple instances of assault across several years at his Los Angeles home.<\/p>\n

\n\tMario Rodriguez, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California state court, claims that Perry subjected him to unwanted sexual advances, including one occasion in 2018 in which the filmmaker \u201ctightly hugged\u201d him and \u201cgrabbed his penis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Perry, denied the allegations. \u201cHaving 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,\u201d he told The Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe complaint is the second filed against Perry accusing him of leveraging his power in Hollywood to assault aspiring male actors in his orbit. Derek Dixon, who appeared in The Oval and Ruthless, sued<\/a> Perry in June, alleging that the mogul pinned him against a wall and groped him.<\/p>\n

\n\tRodriguez brings claims for sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, plus a claim against Lionsgate, which distributed Boo! A Madea Halloween and did not immediately respond to a request for comment, for turning a blind eye to Perry\u2019s alleged misconduct. He seeks at least $77 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the lawsuit, a gym trainer at Equinox in Los Angeles approached Rodriguez in 2014 and told him that Perry asked for his phone number to discuss an acting role. That day, Perry allegedly called and told Rodriguez that he should audition for the role of a good looking college student on Boo! A Madea Halloween. \u201cYou know Mario, I\u2019m not a bad person to know and have in your corner,\u201d Perry said, per the complaint.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter auditioning for and accepting the part, Rodriguez was invited to Perry\u2019s Los Angeles home, the lawsuit says. There, they had drinks before going to his theater room to watch a movie. Perry allegedly \u201cput his hands on Mr. Rodiguez\u2019s legs and began rubbing his inner thigh right next to his penis,\u201d the lawsuit claims.\u00a0 Rodriguez excused himself for the restroom but Perry persisted, according to the complaint. \u201cMan if you would just come, I would take care of your for the rest of your life and you wouldn\u2019t have to worry about anything,\u201d the filmmaker said, the lawsuit claims. \u201cI know you\u2019ll come around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce filming for Boo! A Madea Halloween finished in 2016, Perry called Rodriguez and teased opportunities \u201cabout scripts [I\u2019m] writing.\u201d At his home, the filmmaker, who confided in Rodriguez that he had been sexually molested as a child, grabbed the actor\u2019s \u201cleg right along his penis,\u201d per the lawsuit. Rodriguez says he resisted and left.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the complaint, Perry reached out to Rodriguez again in 2018 and said he wanted to meet for dinner at Mastro\u2019s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills to discuss a role in The Oval. After, the pair left for Perry\u2019s home, where the mogul \u201ctightly hugged\u201d Rodriguez and told him to \u201chold on\u201d while trying to unbuckle the actor\u2019s pants, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMr. Perry reached into Mr. Rodriguez\u2019s underwear and grabbed his penis,\u201d writes Jonathan Delshad, a lawyer for Rodriguez who also represents Dixon, in the complaint. \u201cMr. Perry was making sexual moaning noises and saying, \u2018Stay here, stay here,\u2019 while he pressed his body against Mr. Rodriguez and continued to grab his penis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Rodriguez freed himself, Perry apologized and gave him $5,000, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn another occasion in 2019, Perry grabbed Rodriguez\u2019s hand and placed it on his penis, the lawsuit claims. \u201cIf you were to just be with me, I would take care of you, and you wouldn\u2019t have to ever worry about anything,\u201d Perry told him, alleges the complaint, which notes that Rodriguez declined the overture and was again given $5,000.<\/p>\n

\n\tRodriguez, who also appeared in The Family Business and is a model, says in the lawsuit that he decided to sue after learning of Dixon\u2019s claims. He \u201crealized that Mr. Perry was continuing to use his power and influence to sexually assault hopeful actors and, with the voice of others, decided that it was time to tell his story, to obtain justice, and to finally stop Mr. Perry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDixon\u2019s lawsuit, which was originally filed in California state court, has been moved to federal court in Georgia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tyler Perry has been sued for sexual battery by an actor who appeared in Boo! A Madea Halloween…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,2814],"class_list":{"0":"post-372178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tyler-perry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}