Actor Derek Dixon Speaks Out For the First Time After Filing $260 Million Lawsuit Against Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry‘s sexual assault and harassment accuser is speaking out for the first time since lodging a scandalous $260 million lawsuit against the billionaire movie mogul.

Actor Derek Dixon claims he could no longer “stay silent” about his alleged experience.

“It’s been hard,” he said in an interview with ABC News Live anchor Linsey Davis. “There’s a lot of shame around it. Just trying to think what you could have done better and having to deal with the judgment of how you could’ve ended it better without being in that situation.”

Dixon’s suit, which was filed in Los Angeles in June, accuses the Madea mastermind, 56, of using his powerful position to create a “coercive, sexually exploitative dynamic” during the performer’s tenure on Perry’s TV project The Oval.

According to the civil complaint, Perry sent suggestive text messages to Dixon, including one asking: “What’s it going to take for you to have guiltless sex?”

The suit states the screen stud “carefully navigated a friendly demeanor to prevent the loss of income and opportunity,” but alleges that pushy Perry sexually assaulted him, “including one instance where he forcibly pulled off Mr. Dixon’s clothing, groped his buttocks, and attempted to force himself” on the younger guy.

The lawsuit alleges, “Perry sought the one thing his wealth and influence could not purchase — a sexual relationship with a man who would remain silent.”

And when it comes to Dixon’s staggering damages request, he claims to have settled on the eye-watering amount after considering his alleged personal losses and the desire to send a message. Dixon, who claims he quit The Oval to escape from Perry’s alleged behavior, explains: “Part of that number is my lost job, my lost income, the loss of a show. The other part of that is a deterrent for how do you stop a billionaire who won’t stop themselves from doing this.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Boyd, a lawyer for the filmmaker, issued a statement refuting the allegations and bashing the lawsuit as a cash grab.

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