On December 13, 2025, the video uploaded by model and aspiring actor Mario Rodriguez would rock the entertainment world. To his almost one million followers on Instagram, a shaken-looking Rodriguez talked of an influential director and a dirty secret. That is when the mystery was finally solved, on the Christmas Day, 12 days later, he had to file a lawsuit against billionaire mogul Tyler Perry worth $77 million.
It is not merely another case involving scandalous claims but a masterpiece of the so-called New Playbook of high-profile litigation when the jury of people is formed on social media long before the jury of the law court is formed.
The Accusations: Equinox gym to a 77 million law suit.
The unholy relationship dates back to 2015, when it was brought up in a Los Angeles Equinox gym, as per the complaint, which was lodged at the Los Angeles Superior Court. One of the trainers was depicted to be an intermediary, as he informed Rodriguez that Perry required his phone number. That was followed by, Rodriguez asserts, a ten-year series of sexual battery, sexual assault and deliberate intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Maintenance of Alleged Events Timeline.
• 2015: First interaction; Perry supposedly invites Rodriguez to audition on Boo!. A Madea Halloween in spite of his experience in acting.
• 2016: Rodriguez is cast as “Frat Guy #10.” There are alleged unwanted advances.
2018: A key moment when Perry allegedly attempted to wring Rodriguez over the genitals, said in response to him, “let it happen,” and assured him, I would take care of you.
• 2019: The final alleged encounter. Rodriguez asserts that Perry offered him $5, 000 after the incidence an amount the suit presents as an effort to deal with guilt or keep it secret.
Lionsgate is also a defendant in the suit, which claims that the studio ignored the alleged behavior of the director at the time of the creation of the 2016 movie.
Defense Fires Back: a Money Grab Scam.
Tyler Perry has vehemently disapproved all claims. His attorney general, Alex Spiro, a high-power attorney whom Elon Musk, Jay-Z and Alec Baldwin have hired, rejected the suit as a failed money grab scam. Spiro stated that Rodriguez is being represented by the same lawyer as Derek Dixon, Jonathan J. Delshad, who filed a suit in June 2025 to the tune of $260 million.
Spiro observed that the Dixon case had just been procedurally relocated out of California to Perry, his home base, asserting that this second effort was an attempt to strike after failing in the first one.
The Controversy of Surfaced Texts.
Several days following the filing of the suit, screenshots of text messages dating back to November 2024 and August 2025 were issued by the team of Perry. In them, Rodriguez refers to Perry as a friend and a brother even as he thanks him for bringing me, my Mexican ass, out of a lot of bad places.
Rodriguez has since retorted saying that cordiality among survivors is a fact. When one has a say in your profession… survivors tend to remain amiable. They seek assistance frequently when they are desperate. This does not imply that there was no abuse.
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Call to Action.
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