Tyler Perry UPDATE: Accuser Has Some Explaining To Do After Newly Revealed Texts

The man accusing Tyler Perry in a $77 million dollar, Christmas Day sexual assault lawsuit feels he has some explaining to do.  In newly revealed text messages, Mario Rodriguez showers Perry with praise and affection, but also asks for money.  And, the messages were 5 years after Rodriguez claimed to have cut off communication with Perry.  Rodriguez is now defending the messages as "not inconsistent with abuse."  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, that folks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Sit is Tuesday, December thirtieth, and we have an update
on the Christmas Day sexual assault lawsuit filed against Tyler Perry.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
After some newly revealed.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Text messages have made their way to the public, his
accuser has some explaining to do, and he is explaining
himself and with that, welcome to this episode of Amy
and TJ Roates.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
How much does this change the story?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
We've seen this plenty sexual assault accusers, Right, they make
an accusation and then something comes out where they remained
friendly with their alleged accuser.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
How does this change a story like this?

Speaker 3 (00:48):
So I don't think that because the texts are friendly,
that that changes anything, because you are correct. We have
seen this plenty of times, and we've heard from experts
who say this is common behavior from people who have
been victimized. They for some reason try to maintain a
cordial relationship with their accused abuser. But to me, these

(01:11):
texts reveal something a little bit more than that, because
in them, he's painting a sad picture of his life.
He's asking for money, so it shows his state of
mind as recently as August.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
Of this year.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
And that's a problem because He claimed in his lawsuit
that he cut off he cut off communication with Tyler
Perry years ago because.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Of the alleged abuse.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
So we will get into those very big points, but
I guess worlds, we need to go back for folks
who aren't familiar. Christmas Day, Tyler Perry gets hit with
a seventy seven million dollar lawsuit.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Yes, this is an aspiring actor and model. His name
is Mario Rodriguez. He claims that from twenty fifteen to
twenty nineteen, Tyler Perry made unwanted sexual advances towards him.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
He says that he was sexually.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Making claims of sexual abuse and sexual battery, and he
claims at one point that Tyler Perry even reached down
into his pants and grabbed his penis and then shoved
five thousand dollars in his I guess.

Speaker 4 (02:13):
Pockets as he was leaving, putting him in an uber.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
So he describes this awful thing, and eventually after that
incident boom, he cuts off communication with Tyler Perry. And
he said Tyler Perry occasionally would text him over the
years beyond that. But the text messages that we just
were shown show a very different story. It shows Mario
Rodriguez reaching out to Tyler Perry, not the other way around.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
And again that flies in the face of credibility and
a lawsuit that already maybe had some issues, including misspelling
the movie studio that you're also accusing in this lawsuit.
So this just flies in the face of credibility. But Robes,
we do have to make the point that we have
seen things like this before that is not uncommon.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
To But let's go through now.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
We will share with you the text and we should
also say where these are coming from. The Associated Press
that they got their hands on these. They're not revealing
their source, but these are screen grabs from text messages
that they've seen again the AP. And again we're talking
about who the accuser is because the accuser has put
his name on this lawsuit. It's not something we normally do.
But Mario Rodriguez, but these are the text messages now

(03:22):
that have come out and are in question. And it
should be said, I mean he's acknowledging that these are real.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Oh yes, he's not denying that these are real.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
In fact, he made a statement about these text messages
particularly so yes, actually, if you want to, he confirmed
essentially the validity of them by reacting to them and
actually defending them.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
But how many in total do we have?

Speaker 5 (03:45):
I have?

Speaker 3 (03:46):
So there's an exchange from Thanksgiving of twenty twenty four,
and then there's basically a bunch of texts from Mario
Rodriguez to Tyler Perry on August thirty first of this year.

Speaker 4 (03:55):
So two different text exchanges. The first one we'll start.
I guess we'll just do kron a lot.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Thanksgiving of twenty twenty four, So just a year ago,
Mario Rodriguez wrote this to Tyler Perry. You know that
I love you and I thank you for everything. I
appreciate you to the moon. You got my Mexican ass
out of a lot of bad places, and I just
want to tell you thank you. I can't buy you anything,
but I just want to tell you that your boy
right here appreciates you more than anything. Straight from my heart. Bro,

(04:23):
Nothing I wouldn't do for you.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Anyways, enjoy your time and I hope to see you
again soon.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
And again, from all accounts, this is unsolicitou It's not
like he's responding to something from Tyler Perry. And again
his lawsuit, he claims he stopped reaching out to the gap.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
That is correct.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
So this flies in the face of that, because again,
this is Thanksgiving of twenty twenty four. Tyler Perry responds
in this text exchange and says, happy Thanksgiving, my friend. Yep,
you've been through it. I'm glad you're doing well. You
don't have to give me a thing or pay me
a thing. I'm just glad you're good. And then Mario
Rodriguez responds, I'm still going through it, but you know me, man,
I'm a survivor just like you are. And I'm glad

(05:00):
that you're my friend and I love you, bro respectfully.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
All Right, again, you look at that, and somebody's accusing
someone and asking them for demanding seventy seven million dollars,
that text exchange will be brought up in a lawsuit
in a courtroom and go to his state of mind. Now,
both sides will argue differently, right, but that is clearly
what friendly.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
It was unsolicited.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
I would say it's more than friendly. It was loving,
It was grateful, it was appreciative. Look and look if
he says he took cut off all communication in twenty nineteen,
this is twenty twenty four.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
This is five years later, So I think.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
I take more issue with that discrepancy versus what's in
the content of this, Because how many freaking messages did
we go through in the damn Diddy trial? How many
times do we read loving messages that came periods in
time and years after he's physically abusing people. So I

(05:57):
guess the content's not surprising, but the time is.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I'm scratching my head.

Speaker 4 (06:01):
Bout correct correct? I agree?

Speaker 3 (06:03):
And then as recently as August thirty first, twenty twenty five,
this is the text message. Actually, the effusive one wasn't
as big of a deal to me. This one is.
So this was just from a few months ago. This
is from Mario Rodriguez to Tyler Perry. Brother, haven't been
feeling okay, confused and ill, nauseous?

Speaker 4 (06:22):
I got blood work.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
Thinks it's my teeth. I know it's none of your business, IDK,
what do I know? I promise you I would never
ask you for anything. But if it is what I
think it is, I don't think I could do it
on my own because I can barely pay my bills.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
Scared a f.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
I don't want to get sepsis like my dad and
pass away. I don't even want to mention it because
I don't want to make it real.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
I feel sick most days.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Never told anybody this, but my mom and everybody is
starting to notice my broke ass.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
Don't have insurance.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
I'd never like, I'd never lie to you, but I
think that's what's wrong. My dentist is supposed to take
care of it in Beverly Hills, but he's in prison
for fraud. I've always been healthy, but lately I've been
waking up confused and dizzy.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
And a bunch of stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
I just can't go to the doctor because I can't
even afford it. I don't want anything. I just want
to be Okay, scared brother, was there a.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Response that they knew from.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
So if Tyler Perry stopped responding to him, I don't
know if that's the case, But if there was no
response and then a lawsuit comes a few months later,
that's problematic.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Okay, you gotta give and we always, always, always right,
want to give space for the accuser and what their
experience might have been, and that's fine.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
We will leave that open.

Speaker 2 (07:38):
We have to put together a very big butt here,
because you're talking about August thirty, first of this year.
The other lawsuit was what June that the other actor,
Dickson two hundred and what sixty.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Million or something on a lawsuit.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Now, this guy, Mario Rodriguez, has admitted that once he
saw that lawsuit filed, that is what put him in
the mindset of, Wow, this is happening to other people.
I need to speak out, I need to say something.
But you had three months and in that three months
you asked Tyler Perry for something. You asked him for

(08:15):
financial help in that time.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Rose. That doesn't bode well, it doesn't look.

Speaker 4 (08:23):
And we don't know what happened.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
The only two people who know what happened are Mario
Rodriguez and Tyler Perry. But these text messages are a
window into at least his mindset in August, and it
doesn't jibe with what he is saying in his lawsuit
in terms of what his mindset was when he first
saw the news about Derek Dixon's lawsuit in June and

(08:47):
what we're hearing from him now on Christmas Day when
he filed this lawsuit.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Everything he filed in that lawsuit, even if it's true,
this looks bad for your argument was moved because this
is happening to other young men, So I need to
speak out, I need to say something, And.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
You're the thing he was thinking about first though he knew.

Speaker 4 (09:09):
About the lawsuit, of course in.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Junely he's got three four months that he knows about
this lawsuit, and he didn't think about filing his own.
He didn't think about other young men, He didn't what
not at that time at least, or maybe he was
maybe this was a way to maybe maybe he'll hook
me up. Maybe this was his way of, now, let
me stop saying maybe ropes that is just for an attorney.
They are going to hold on through that text messag.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yes, it looks like a fishing expedition after you see
that somebody is already now vulnerable and now not wanting
probably any more negative press or certainly anything that would
act as though this was a pattern of behavior. So yes,
he reached out at a time where clearly Tyler Perry
was vulnerable and talked about his own vulnerability, talked about

(09:55):
his own needs medically and financially, and that can't be ignored.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Or I'm laughing because I stopped myself. I'm like, you know,
I'm never mind and you flat out said it, So
this is a fishing expedition. That is exactly the thing
I stopped, and I wasn't gonna speculate and then you
just boom. But no, that's the point it's gonna come
off to somebody like he's testing the waters, correct, right,
This is he knows and maybe I can do something

(10:22):
to him. So let me just kind of drop this
to That is how it's going to be spun by
his attorney. And his attorney has been talking and talking plenty.
He's talking again about these new revelations.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
But here's the.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Thing, folks, he ain't saying a whole lot different than
he said the first time that this is a flat
out money grabbing scam. Stay here, all right, folks, we

(10:56):
continue here on Amy and TJ. I guess I should
probably just let you take it from here. I'm trying
to tiptoe and be careful with my words. You are
absolutely saying it and keeping it real and saying what
a lot of people are thinking. Robes and dealing with
these stories are very difficult because you want to you
have to leave room for the accuser and what they

(11:19):
possibly went through. But when you're talking about destroying a
man's reputation. You're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
He's on the line for Yes, there is going to
be scrutiny and there should be right.

Speaker 3 (11:30):
Yes, I believe so, and I do think I've said
this before, and I understand that it takes time and
this isn't an easy thing to do for someone to
come forward. But when you come forward in a civil
lawsuit versus a criminal proceeding where you take it to
the police versus taking it to a lawyer, I do
think there is a different level of scrutiny involved as well,
just in terms of people's skepticism as to the intent

(11:53):
or why you're asking for such a large sum of
money versus going to the police and seeking some sort
of justice through our criminal justice system. Now we should
mention Mario Rodriguez has come out we mentioned before the
break and spoken out about these text messages. He's not
denying them, he is not saying they're not real. He's

(12:14):
actually defending them. And here's what he said. People are
pointing to messages where I was polite, grateful or vulnerable
and trying to use that to discredit me. Survivors often
stay cordial. They often ask for help when they feel desperate.
That doesn't mean that abuse didn't happen. Those messages were
sent to Perry at a time when I was especially vulnerable,
as can be seen from the context. He went on

(12:37):
to say, continued financial support and access are not inconsistent
with abuse. They are often part of the power dynamics
that follow it.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
True. Yes, agreed, everything he said is true.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Someone else could look at that and say he's well
trying to cover his bases.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Correct, He's explaining things.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Away to a certain degree, looks fine line between an
excuse and a reason, and this will come off as
he's just making excuses for it and using a legitimate
reason that other people often have.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Yeah, because I don't think anyone.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
I don't think most people are now at this point
with all that we've seen in trials and things coming
out from the Me too movement, we all understand that
that is true that someone or an alleged victim or
a victim being cordial with their abuser.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
That we have absolutely seen cases of that.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
But I don't think that's what the problem is for
him with these texts. It's not about him being cordial.
It's not about him being grateful. It's not even about
him expressing love or gratitude. We've seen that all before.
This is about the inconsistency of what he said in
his lawsuit about what he did that he cut off
ties that Tyler Perry was.

Speaker 4 (13:49):
Reaching back out to him.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
This basically reveals something very different than what he was
describing in his lawsuit.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yes, he gave us this is a different direction. It
is a different story. We had one idea in our
mind about how this thing possibly went, and he told
one story. This is a very big detail to leave
out of your story, wrote, he had to know. He
knew what he had done the past several months. He
knew he reached out in August. I mean he might
have reached out more recently. And this has now come

(14:18):
out and we don't know where it came from. Do
you think do you have an idea maybe where this
had come from.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
I would think if I were Tyler Perry, I would
want those texts to come out for sure. I would
want the other side to be shown. I would want
people to have a fuller picture of the experience he had. Now,
Tyler Perry hasn't said anything correct about this in particular,
just through his chance through his.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
Attorney, who I love what Alex Spiro said. I said
it before and I'll say it again.

Speaker 3 (14:47):
This is nothing but a seventy seven million dollar money
grab scam.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
End of statement period. What else you need to know?
That is all they're saying.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
And this guy remind me it was Alec Baldwin jay
Z who this guy has defended.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
He has some incredible experience with some heavy hitters being
accused of some pretty heinous things.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
I don't know where this goes from here. Again, it
was filed on Christmas Day. It's just a coincidence. I'm
sure that it was filed on that day, seventy seven
million dollars. But these are difficult stories. Will continue to
speak on this one. And this is another Weinstein. I'm
not comparing these two in any way, but I'm saying

(15:32):
Tyler Perry is at a height and at a level
of success, and they are empires and people and networks
and careers that could end if he goes down in
some way.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
It's a big deal.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
It's a huge This can't be a bigger name out
there that for something like this to start happening to
And again, I want to be clear of a comparison.
I'm not trying to see yes, he is in any
way guilty of the same heinous things that how Weinstein is.
But I'm saying that the type of collapse something like
this causes.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
This isn't just a celebrity.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
This is a guy who has created shows, he has
created movies, he has created careers. He's created a studio
in Atlanta, a whole studio.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
He has a movie empire.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
He does, and so this is a very important story.
We will keep our eye on. We just wanted to
get you this update that it came in yesterday, and
over nights we'll keep an eye on to stay with
us here on Amy and TJ. Our feed will be
full of all kinds of updates during the day. Of course,
our morning run coming your way, hear me. Just a
couple of hours you can look for that. And what's
the other. We have a crazy, crazy story to update

(16:42):
you about, especially at a time when people are going
to be thinking.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
About the holidays.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Robes drinking alone has been banned in a bar. Yes, folks,
we had a full day here on Amy and DJ
is a by all means, stick with us. We always
appreciate you spending some time, but for now I'm TJ
holmes On, behalf of my dar Amy Robot.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
We will talk to y'alls

Speaker 2 (17:16):
M