THE DEP-STANDOFF! Tyler Perry’s Legal Shield Fire Back at $77M Accuser’s “Frivolous” Motion to Compel Under-Oath Questioning About His Sexuality!
Honey, pull up a front-row bench at the Los Angeles County Superior Court and prep your legal pads, because the high-stakes civil warfare surrounding billionaire media mogul Tyler Perry just hit an absolute, chaotic roadblock!
Media Take Out has been tracking the explosive, jaw-dropping $77 million sexual assault and battery lawsuit filed late last year by actor Mario Rodriguez—who snagged a minor role in 2016’s Boo! A Madea Halloween—and things just went from messy to completely nuclear behind closed doors!
And the lawsuit may finally force Tyler out of the closet publicly.
We already knew Mario’s powerhouse legal camp has been playing absolute hardball, but on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, his attorney Jonathan Delshad officially escalated the battle to the ultimate peak. Rodriguez’s side formally filed a scathing motion asking a judge to legally COMPEL Tyler Perry to sit his billionaire butt down for a deposition and slapped him with a demand for over $7,370 in immediate monetary sanctions! Rodriguez claims Perry has been ducking the under-oath hot seat for over two months by imposing wild conditions. But honey, Tyler Perry’s celebrity super-lawyer, Alex Spiro, just caught wind of the motion—and he pulled up to the microphones with an absolute vengeance, labeling the whole thing a toxic, desperate, multi-million dollar shake-down!
The June 9 No-Show: Why The Standoff Blew Up
According to the explosive new court documents obtained by Media Take Out, Rodriguez’s legal team has been aggressively trying to pin Perry down for a recorded deposition since April 14, 2026.
The battle reached a massive boiling point when Rodriguez formally noticed Perry’s deposition for June 9, 2026, at his counsel’s main office in Los Angeles. Honey, the cameras were ready, the stenographer was booked, but Tyler Perry was a complete no-show! Rodriguez’s camp claims Perry didn’t bother to show his face, didn’t file a formal protective order, and didn’t even serve a legitimate objection before the clock ran out. Under California civil procedure, failing to show up without a protective order is a massive no-no, which is exactly why Rodriguez is now asking Judge Brock T. Hammond to legally force the filmmaker into a chair during a highly anticipated July 22, 2026 hearing in Department 407.
The Sexuality Showdown: Exclusion Demands & A Rejected Stipulation Deal
Now hold onto your designer hats, because the real tea behind why this deposition is stalled comes down to a vicious, hyper-sensitive battle over the exact scope of questioning!
Rodriguez’s motion exposes that Perry’s defense team is aggressively trying to put a massive perimeter around his private life. They demanded that Rodriguez’s lawyers explicitly promise NEVER to ask Perry whether he is, or has ever been, sexually attracted to men—insisting his sexual orientation and preferences are completely irrelevant, inflammatory, and nothing short of a public “witch hunt.” The defense also demanded a complete ban on questioning Perry about his personal financial condition, other active lawsuits (like the massive $260 million sexual harassment suit filed by The Oval actor Derek Dixon), and any previous settlements or sexual misconduct allegations at Tyler Perry Studios.
But baby, the plot twist gets even juicier! Rodriguez’s side reveals they actually tried to cut a sneaky deal with the mogul. They offered to completely drop all deposition questions regarding Perry’s sexual preferences and orientation if Perry’s team would simply sign a formal legal stipulation admitting he had a sexual interest in men prior to ever meeting Rodriguez. Honey, Tyler Perry and his lawyers looked at that paperwork and said absolutely NOT, flatly rejecting the proposed stipulation and keeping the legal gridlock fully active!
Let’s look at the legal mechanics directly like a helpful peer, not a rigid lecturer: Honey, in the world of high-stakes depositions, defense lawyers cannot simply tell their client to sit there and stay completely silent just because a question feels messy, embarrassing, or invasive under privacy laws! Rodriguez’s team is arguing that California procedure requires Perry to state his objections on the record, but still answer the questions subject to those objections. Counsel can only instruct a deponent not to answer to protect elite attorney-client privilege or to halt the entire proceeding to run to a judge for an emergency protective order. So, trying to pre-sanitize the entire list of questions before Perry even sits in the room is a major procedural stretch!
The Geography Game: Beverly Hills vs. Atlanta
As if the topics weren’t enough of a headache, the two camps are also violently fighting over the physical location of the deposition.
Perry’s team initially tried to schedule dates out in September 2026, later pivoting to argue that because Perry primarily resides out in Georgia, the deposition needs to physically take place in Atlanta. But Rodriguez’s side completely called cap on that excuse! They reminded the court that the billionaire mogul famously maintains an ultra-luxury mega-mansion in Beverly Hills—meaning he is well within the legal, statutory geographical radius to be ordered to sit for a deposition right in the heart of Los Angeles.
Following the June 9 drama, Perry’s counsel apparently offered up December 9, 2026, claiming it’s the absolute earliest date Perry’s manic Hollywood production schedule will allow him to appear in person in California. Rodriguez is now asking the judge to lock Perry into that December date with strict, unbreakable ground rules—or order an even earlier emergency date so Perry’s team can’t stall the proceedings any further.
“A Failed Money Grab Scam!”—Alex Spiro Smashes the Motion
Tyler Perry has vehemently, consistently denied every single syllable of Rodriguez’s horrific allegations, which include claims of sexual assault and battery during private encounters at Perry’s home between 2014 and 2019. To completely back up their innocence, Perry’s team previously leaked jaw-dropping screenshots of text messages showing Rodriguez sending Perry incredibly warm, grateful texts as recently as Thanksgiving 2024 and August 2025—thanking Perry for his generosity and asking for financial help long after the alleged abuse supposedly stopped.
When asked about this latest deposition motion, Perry’s powerhouse attorney Alex Spiro completely went for the jugular, telling mainstream outlets the motion is 100% “frivolous.” Spiro flatly denied that Perry refused to appear or ducked lines of questioning, boldly declaring: “I said it before and I will say it again. This is nothing but a $77 million money grab scam.” Spiro warned that his camp is already drafting up a massive countersuit and plans to slap Rodriguez with an intense round of legal sanctions of their own!
With Judge Hammond set to referee this explosive procedural circus on July 22, the stakes for Black Hollywood’s most powerful studio owner have never been higher. Media Take Out will be sitting right in the gallery with our eyes locked on the docket
