Tyler Perry
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: John Nacion / Getty / Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry wants the world to know he doesn’t care about your criticisms of his films and will not change his formula for making them.
Please make no mistake. Tyler Perry has helped many Black actors find work in Hollywood thanks to his television series and films, and people appreciate him for that, but that doesn’t mean he is above criticism.
Following the release of his latest project, Divorce In The Black, starring Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict, which has earned the rare honor of earning a big fat 0% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes while maintaining a 75% audience score, fans have once again called into question Perry’s writing.
For the most part, the director/actor has ignored the critiques about his projects, but during an appearance on the “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, he let the chopper spray.
Tyler Perry Defends His Films
“I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing,” Perry told Palmer.
He continued, “Because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of — used to be — emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important.”
He let the “highbrow negroes” who critique his projects have it and let it be known he makes his movies for “a large portion of my fans” who are “disenfranchised. Who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend,”
“So, you’ve got this highbrow Negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything, then you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it’s like, whose mothers were caregivers for white kids, and were maids, housekeepers…beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say that their stories don’t matter. Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important or should be told? Get out of here with that bullshit.”
Social Media Claps Back At Tyler Perry
As expected, users on X, formerly Twitter, didn’t care for Perry’s thoughts on their critiques of his lackluster films.
“How dare these highbrow negroes criticize me, a man who cares so much about the working class that I no longer work with the union that helps struggling writers stay afloat in the entertainment industry,” one user on X wrote in response to Perry’s comments.
Journalist Jerry L. Barrow added, “He’s totally missing and/or dismissing the actual criticism, which is the WRITING, not the topics or the audience. Good writing isn’t about class.
Tyler Perry’s writing and films have been the topic of discussion for years. Shows like The Boondocks and Atlanta each dedicate an entire episode to calling him out.
Loni Love, former co-host of The Talk and comedian, blasted Perry for the poor quality of his films, saying he needs to hire more Black writers in response to film critics’ unanimous pannement of Divorce in the Black.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
4. Lol, points were made in this tweet.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Mo’Nique is once more aiming harsh barbs in the direction of two beloved figures within the culture in Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, adding fuel to longstanding fired lasting more than a dozen years. During a recent standup routine, Mo’Nique unloaded on Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry and urged the crowd to call them out their names.
Mo’Nique, 56, was an opening act during a recent stop Katt Williams’ Dark Matter tour stop in Nashville, Tenn. and took time to take shots at Winfrey and Perry, both of whom she’s claimed have frozen her out of opportunities in the industry.
At one point during the show, Mo’Nique led a chant of, “F*ck you, Oprah Winfrey! F*ck you, Tyler Perry! F*ck them c*on motherf*ckers! I said it, n*gga, say it with me!”
Doubling down, the Baltimore native added, “I love that Black raggedy b*tch. I love that Black simple-minded motherf*cker. I love Oprah Winfrey’s Black ass. And we just need to bring her back to Black.”
Other figures in Winfrey’s life caught shots, including longtime partner Stedman Graham and best friend Gayle King.
It’s been said that Mo’Nique’s rehashing of the beef is connected to an alleged scheme hatched by Winfrey to blackball her for not promoting the film Precious, which Winfrey and Perry served as executive producers.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Ivan Apfel / Getty
Tyler Perry may not have been able to seal the deal during the brief time when Paramount Global was toying around with the possibility of putting BET Media Group up for sale, but the TV and film mogul has struck a multi-year deal with the network that will ensure his content has a home there for the foreseeable future.
According to Variety, the Mea Culpa writer and director’s deal with BET includes the renewal of eight of his shows for BET and its BET+ streamer, including Tyler Perry’s Sistas, which is coming up on its eighth season, as well as Tyler Perry’s The Oval and Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living, which are both going into their sixth seasons. Tyler Perry’s House of Payne has also been renewed for its sixth season on BET, which came after the previous six seasons that aired in syndication on TBS.
“Scott Mills and his team at BET have been incredibly supportive throughout our time working together, and I’m excited to continue bringing these stories to the screen. I’m grateful to our loyal audiences for watching week after week and engaging these stories,” Perry said in a statement.
Mills, BET Media Group’s president and CEO, appears to be equally excited about the network’s continued relationship for Perry, and he sang the entertainment mogul’s praises in a statement of his own.
“Tyler Perry is simply without rival as a creator of content that powerfully resonates with audiences across genres, formats and platforms,” he said. “Our programming partnership with Tyler – undoubtedly the largest deal ever in the industry with a Black creator – has been hugely successful; delivering the number one series across all TV among Black audiences and five of the top 10 series on cable among Black viewers. We are thrilled to extend our extraordinary relationship with Tyler and to continue to be the home of the largest and most diverse collection of new Tyler Perry content for years to come.”
So, congratulations to Tyler Perry for, once again, proving himself to be one of the kings of Black entertainment on the big and small screens. Salute!
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Mea Culpa, the latest film from Tyler Perry, was released to Netflix over the weekend starring Kelly Rowland in the lead role alongside co-star Trevante Rhodes. While the film catapulted to the top of the streamer’s Top 10 listings for movies, fans on X are handing in mixed reactions.
Mea Culpa follows the tale of Mea Harper (Rowland), a criminal defense attorney who begins representing artist Zyair Malloy (Rhodes) who is accused of killing his girlfriend. Without delving too much into the plot, Mea and her husband Kal Hawthorne (Sean Sagar) are going through some relationship issues involving another woman.
Amid her troubles at home, Mea takes on Zyair as a client, who is being prosecuted by her brother-in-law, District Attorney Raw Hawthorne, the brother of her husband. Zyair, using his charm, begins to seduce Mea and all hell breaks loose from there according to what we see in the trailer for the film.
Tyler Perry joined forces with Netflix as a content partner back in October of last year and the multiyear deal will see not only movies from the celebrated director and screenwriter but also several series as well.
The issue that some online have with Mea Culpa is some of the plot twists within the film, and others have been critical of Rowland’s acting skills. Others are also saying that it’s time that Perry allows someone else to handle his scripts, a common refrain from detractors of his work.
Check out the reactions from X, formerly Twitter, below.
—
Photo: Bob Mahoney/Perry Well Films 2/Courtesy Netflix / Mea Culpa
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Christian Keyes, an actor and model who has several credits in both film and television, revealed that a powerful figure in the industry sexually harassed him for years. Keyes, a Michigan native, made his film debut in Tyler Perry‘s Diary Of A Mad Black Woman along with other productions Perry was involved in.
Via an Instagram Live video, Christian Keyes, 48, shared chilling details of what he allegedly endured at the hands of the unnamed person on Friday (December 15). In the video, Keyes explained that he was propositioned by the individual several times with requests to remove his clothing for money or visit the person’s home after auditions.
In the video, Keyes clearly states that he didn’t take the bait or engage in any activity to gain favor with the person who allegedly pressured and sexually harassed him. While he didn’t name the person in question, Keyes claims to have recordings that back up his story.
“The good news is that they don’t even have to believe me. Hopefully they do, but if they don’t, they can hear this person. Since the sexual harassment started, I’ve carried many recorder devices on me: keychains, pens, thumb drives, all of the above,” Keyes said.
Keyes went on to say that he wants to “air that sh*t” out because the person he is accusing of harassment is a beloved figure in the industry and has several supportive fans. Further, Keyes said that the perpetrator of the alleged harassment told him that he had other men on the payroll who heeded their beck and call in a bid to get him to follow suit.
On Twitter, Tyler Perry as mentioned above, saw his name trending and given the fact that Christian Keyes got his start with Perry, folks online are connecting unconfirmed dots on their own. Others one mentioned Robert Smith and Sean “Diddy” Combs as the mystery figure.
We’ve got reactions below. The IG Live session in question can be viewed below as well.
—
Photo: Paras Griffin / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Just when it seemed like BET Media Group was going to pull a major move and purchase a majority stake in Paramount Global, the deal has fallen apart with Paramount deciding to back away from the proposed deal.
According to Variety, the deal that would’ve led to BET owning VH1, BET Studios, and streamer BET+ came to an end Wednesday (Aug. 16) after Paramount Global came to the realization that the sale “wouldn’t result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet.” With bids up in the $2 billion to $3 billion dollar range, we’re surprised Paramount Global would walk away from such a Godzilla sized bag, but hey, it’s their company and their choice.
Variety reports:
Variety exclusively reported in March that Sean “Diddy” Combs was among the bidders who expressed interested in the majority stake, joining fellow media moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen in pursuing the acquisition of the network.
Combs has previously worked with Paramount Global, producing three iterations of MTV’s “Making the Band” between 2002 and 2009. The rapper, record producer and executive is already the owner of network Revolt, which reaches roughly 80 millions households. Back in March, a source close to Combs told Variety that Combs is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse,” which he believes is “better for the business, for the culture and for building wealth in the Black community.”
It really would’ve been interesting to see what Diddy would’ve had in mind had Paramount Global ended up in his hands. Had Tyler Perry taken control, we probably would’ve seen Madea get her own daytime talk show or something. We wouldn’t be mad at such a show either. Just sayin’.
What Paramount Global has in store for it’s future now is anyone’s guess, but don’t be surprised if they end up suddenly selling the majority stake of their company to Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk or something. That’s just how the game goes sometimes.
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Alexander Tamargo / Getty
In a watershed moment, it appears that both Tyler Perry and Byron Allen are competing to acquire the majority of BET Media Group.
According to reports, Perry has been involved in conversations with executives at Paramount Global with the aim of acquiring a majority stake in the BET Media Group. The operation includes BET and VH1 as well as streaming network BET + and the BET Studios production company. Allen, who is the founder and head of the Allen Media Group, has publicly acknowledged through a spokesperson that he was “interested in buying BET, and he will be pursuing the acquisition of the network.” Representatives for Perry and Paramount Global didn’t respond to press inquiries about the situation.
The 53-year-old Perry enjoys a good relationship with Paramount and BET dating back to 2005 when the latter network funded his first motion picture, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Since then, he has been in partnership with Paramount on a long-term film deal that began in 2017. The two entities entered into a television partnership deal in May 2020. Both have been lucrative ventures, with Perry releasing several series to popular acclaim including “House of Payne,” “Sisters,” “Ruthless”, and “The Oval”
on BET and BET+.
The 61-year-old Allen and his company have been on a monumental path within the last couple of years, recently acquiring the Black News Channel for $11 million last year and lifting it out of bankruptcy. Allen’s company has also acquired The Weather Channel along with 27 ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliate stations within the past three years with an investment price of $1 billion. Digital outlets TheGrio and HBCU Go are also under the Allen Media Company umbrella.
News of Paramount Global’s potential sale of the BET Media Group was announced this past Monday in an article from the Wall Street Journal. Reports are that the group is looking to make the move to shore up a planned initiative to rebrand the Showtime linear and streaming networks into its own Paramount + network, which was announced earlier this year.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Variety / Getty / Kelly Rowland
The devil works hard, but Tyler Perry and his typewriter work harder. The Emmy and Honorary Oscar winner is hard at work on his next Netflix project, and it’s boasting some Black star power.
Spotted on Deadline, the next Netflix project written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry, Mea Culpa, is coming. It will star Kelly Rowland (Think Like A Man), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight, The Predator), Sean Sagar (The Gentlemen), Nick Sagar (The Princess Switch trilogy), and RonReaco Lee (Nappily Ever After).
The film follows an ambitious criminal defense attorney trying to become a partner at the law firm and takes on a case of an artist who possibly killed his girlfriend.
Mea Culpa is the fifth feature from Perry at the streaming giant. It follows Six Triple Eight, A Fall From Grace, A Madea Homecoming, and A Jazzman’s Blues.
Six Triple Eight is a drama based on the true story of an all-Black, all-female, World War II Battalion that went into production last month and will see Kerry Washington star in the film and serve as an executive producer as well.
Kelly Rowland Is Back In Her Acting Bag
Rowland, a Grammy and Billboard Music Award-winning artist, has again caught the acting bug. She starred in Freddy vs. Jason, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and Bad Hair. She was also in previous episodes of The Equalizer, L.A.’s Finest, A Black Lady Sketch Show, American Soul, and Empire.
Rhodes gained stardom after his stellar performance in Barry Jenkin’s Academy Award-winning film Moonlight and other films Bruiser, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Bird Box, The Predator, and 12 Strong.
He was most recently seen in the controversial HULU series Mike portraying Mike Tyson.
—
Photo: Variety / Getty
Tyler Perry fought back against Kanye West‘s recent barrage of antisemitic commentary by sharing his family’s personal connection to the Jewish community during his childhood.
“This first photo is of my mother with these adorable children she worked with at a Jewish community center,” the filmmaker wrote, captioning a post on Instagram depicting his mother’s class of 3-year-olds at the Jewish Community Center Nursery School. “I remember her coming home from work one day devastated because there was a bomb threat and my mother was horrified that there were people who wanted to blow up a building full of children because they were Jewish.
“I blurred their faces but think about that. It brought her back to that pain of having to live through the bombing of a church in Alabama where three little black girls died,” he continued, tying the moment emotionally to his mom’s experience during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Perry then went on to explain that his mom “made sure that I knew the commonality of what black people and Jewish people have endured” and made a moving argument about the crucial role allies can play in helping marginalized people regardless of race, ethnicity or creed.
“She not only taught me about slavery but she also taught me about the Holocaust,” he wrote. “But in teaching me about all our common pains she also taught me about the allies that Jewish people have been for black people. Case in point, look at the founding members of the NAACP – it took allies to get us to a better place in this country and those allies didn’t look like us.”
In another slide, Perry shares photos of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney and Michael Henry Schwerner, three civil rights activists from New York who were abducted and killed in what were called the Mississippi Burning Murders. The trio had been working to register Black voters in Mississippi at the time.
“It was Jewish allies that were murdered in Mississippi trying to help us get the right to vote,” Perry continued. “I can fill this post with so many examples including my own allies that I work with today who have helped me grow a business that has allowed me to hire more black people than most businesses in Hollywood. No one makes it alone. Refuse hate!!”
While Perry didn’t refer to directly to Ye in the post, the rapper has created his own downward spiral in recent weeks by making increasingly disturbing antisemitic claims in the press, prompting multiple brands, from Balenciaga and Adidas to Gap and Foot Locker, to cut ties with him.
Read Perry’s powerful post about allyship below.
-
Pages