A vivid $77 million sexual assault and sexual battery lawsuit against Tyler Perry filed by the same lawyer behind a similar action earlier this year is just more of the same in search of a payout, claims the “betrayed” Madea star’s high-profile attorney.
“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,” Alex Spiro said today of the big-bucks jury-trial-seeking claims from Mario Rodriguez against Perry and “Boo! A Madea Halloween distributor Lionsgate.
Spiro, who has successfully repped Alec Baldwin, Jay-Z and many an A-lister over the years with a slugger’s approach, is certainly putting forth the narrative of how he wants the Jonathan Delshad-represented Rodriguez’s Los Angeles Superior Court case to go down in flames.
There is no denying Rodriguez’s suit is similar in tone and format to the ongoing $260 million sexual harassment and assault suit initially filed in June in LASC by Delshad for his client, The Oval actor Derek Dixon, against Perry. At the same time, there is no denying that Rodriguez’s 23-page complaint filed December 25 is full of potentially damning text message screen grabs, remarks about oral sex and other suggestive conversation from an allegedly predatory Perry. There are also apparent cringey proclamations by the filmmaker like, “You know Mario, I’m not a bad person to know and have in your corner.”
Focusing on the making of Boo! and a number of subsequent meet-ups — such as a November 14, 2018 Beverly Hills dinner at Mastro’s Steakhouse to discuss more potential roles for model Rodriguez that saw a cameo of sorts from John Cena — the complaint is also full of graphic and specific details. “Mr. Perry reached into Mr. Rodriguez’s underwear and grabbed his penis,” the filing exclaims of an alleged assault eight years ago. “Mr. Perry was making sexual moaning noises and saying, ‘Stay here, stay here,’ while he pressed his body against Mr. Rodriguez and continued to grab his penis.”
Capping off that alleged incident, the filing claims Perry “stuffed $5,000.00 in Mr. Rodriguez’s pocket” as the slightly inebriated Rodriguez was waiting for an Uber to take him home from Perry’s house. Other alleged attempts by Perry to offer Rodriguez financial security and on-screen roles for what the plaintiff understands to be sex followed up to 2024.
Claiming “PTSD … psychological, emotional and economic injuries” from Perry’s alleged actions towards him, Rodriguez (who did play a “very good looking college student” in 2016’s Boo!) and lawyer Delshad have hauled Lionsgate into all this.
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Their argument is disarmingly simple, though with an odd misspelling of the studio’s name. “Lions Gate should have known of Perry’s misconduct as Perry has had many such allegations made against him in the past,” the complaint states. “But for Lions Gate’s failure to act and enforce their morality clauses and other safeguards, the sexual assaults would not have occurred as Perry would not have been in a position of power.”
Lionsgate, as it is actually spelled, did not respond tonight to Deadline’s request for comment on the lawsuit and its place in it.
In terms of someone who did respond, Spiro may be swinging in defense of his client, but the NYC-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan partner is not altogether off the mark with his strong statement. Rodriguez decided to take action with his claims after a Sean “Diddy” Combs-referencing friend texted him on June 18 with news of Dixon’s case.
“Mr. Rodriguez realized that Mr. Perry was continuing to use his power and influence to sexually assault hopeful actors, and, with the voice of others, decided it was time to tell his story, obtain justice, and finally stop Mr. Perry,” this week’s filing says. “When Perry became aware that Rodriguez was going to file this action, Perry once again reached out to Rodriguez by text, telling Rodriguez that Perry did so much to help Rodriguez and was that (sic) Perry was feeling betrayed by Rodriguez,” the document adds.
Interestingly, with all the text exchanges displayed in Rodriguez’s filing, this possibly explosive one is not there to see.
Now, to Spiro’s slamming of Rodriguez via Delshad and the Dixon matter, it is more nuanced in reality. For instance, the case hasn’t actually “failed,” as Spiro claims.
Delshad’s case against Perry for Dixon hasn’t exactly nosedived, but it has had an unconventional path through the legal system so far. Filed in LASC in June, the matter was pulled from state court in California and moved to federal court in the Golden State earlier this year. Then Dixon filed to have his case remanded back to LASC. On December 12, a federal judge ruled that Dixon had not proved he had residence in the state and denied the return to state court. A consequence of Judge John Walker’s decision was that Dixon’s case was then shifted to federal court in Georgia, Perry’s home base.
Sitting with Judge Sarah E. Geraghty in the Peach State the past two weeks of this holiday season, Dixon’s case hasn’t seen much more movement. Which means, once Lady Justice picks up the pace and assuming there is no settlement, 2026 could very likely see Tyler Perry fighting pricey sexual assault cases on two sides of the country.
