Tyler Perry Opens Up About Racism in Hollywood
Tyler Perry was recently awarded The Hollywood Reporter’s TV Producer of the Year, and opened up about some of his experiences in Tinsel Town, though he’s based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tyler is currently setting up a 330-acre studio at the old Fort McPherson Army Base, which he’s hoping to turn into a state of the art production complex he calls “Tyler Town.”
THR was able to sit down with him and chat about his early years as well as his future.
Who were your role models in the business?
Hands down, Cosby and Oprah. Because we had the same color skin. It let me know that it was possible. I could look at Steven Spielberg, whom I admire, and I’m blown away by what he does, but at that time, I didn’t think I could be Steven Spielberg. That wasn’t an example that was set for me. But seeing someone with my same color skin make it, be successful, own their product, own their show and have their own path made me go, “OK, there’s something here, and you can do it, too.”
Did the revelations about Cosby change how you feel about him?
It’s such an awful situation. It’s so sad; you have all of these women saying all of these things. … All I can say about it, it’s heartbreaking at so many levels.
Is there a piece of advice that Oprah gave you early on that has stuck with you?
Yeah. Sign your own checks. Watch your money. But she wasn’t even talking to me then, it was an interview with Toni Braxton or someone. Every month on the 1st and the 15th, I’m sitting right there at that desk with a box full of checks. And at this point, it’s probably about 2,000 checks. Some people, they’re in show business, but they’re all about the show and nobody’s paying attention to the business.
You said in 2009 after the election of Barack Obama that he was judged on the “content of his character, period.” So now here we are in 2017, and race is an issue again — do you feel that we’re going backward?
No, I feel that everything that was under the surface is showing. There is anger in the country that is just finding a voice and finding a way to sprout and grow. And it’s dangerous. And you have to be very, very careful when you start walking that path.
Do you think that Hollywood has respect for the African-American audience?
Listen, let me tell you something about what I know about Hollywood. I don’t think it’s black and white, I think it’s green. It’s just about, Where’s the money? How do we make the money? How do we make the business grow? It’s all about the money. So whatever’s making the money is where the respect is going to be.
Read the rest of the interview at The Hollywood Reporter.