Tyler Perry Won't Budge: Director Rejects Settlement, Fights Back in Court

When someone sues you for $77 million alleging sexual assault, the pressure to settle is immense. But Tyler Perry isn’t cracking—at least that’s what his legal team wants the court to know.

The acclaimed director is firing back at Mario Rodriguez, who filed the lawsuit back in December 2025 claiming Perry sexually assaulted him on multiple occasions starting in 2015, when they allegedly met at a gym. Rodriguez says Perry gave him a role in a 2015 film and later invited him to his home, where the assault allegedly occurred. He claims Perry questioned him about oral sex before touching him inappropriately, and later forced his hand on Perry’s penis. Rodriguez also alleges Perry paid him $5,000 after one incident.

Perry’s response? He denies everything and suggests the allegations only surfaced after he stopped providing Rodriguez with financial assistance. More recently, Perry’s legal team filed documents claiming Rodriguez is using courtroom tactics to bully him into settling. When Rodriguez requested Perry sit for a deposition and asked questions about his sexual orientation—apparently to support some theory linking attraction to assault—Perry objected. Rodriguez then filed a motion to sanction Perry for refusing to appear.

In his latest filing, Perry makes clear he won’t be pressured into a settlement he doesn’t believe he owes. He argues Rodriguez’s questions about sexual orientation are irrelevant and rooted in what Perry calls a“bigoted stereotype”—the implication that a man attracted to men is more likely to assault another man. Perry also notes he’s already agreed to the deposition; he just won’t accept Rodriguez’s conditions about what can be asked. He’s even asking the court to sanction Rodriguez for $7,300, arguing he’s abusing the discovery process.

The chess match playing out in court documents reveals two sides with very different strategies. Rodriguez appears to be leveraging publicity and procedural motions to create pressure. Perry’s team is taking a harder line, refusing to negotiate on principle while challenging the legitimacy of Rodriguez’s questions. Whether that stance holds up as the case progresses remains to be seen—but for now, Perry’s message is unmistakable: not settling, not backing down, and not embarrassed about defending himself.