Superstar Cuts off Family who Refuse to Work

A.J. Pike

Hollywood - Tyler Perry is one Superstar who does not believe in giving family members the proverbial ‘free ride.’ 

In a recent interview on the YouTube series Den of Kings, the billionaire told host Kirk Franklin along with fellow guests Derrick Hayes and Jay ‘Jeezy’ Jenkins that after his mother died in 2009 he sent letters to several family members informing them they needed to get a job within 60 days as he would no longer be financially supporting them. 

“They all got jobs,” said Mr. Perry, the actor and filmmaker who has amassed a fortune upwards of one billion dollars. 

Mr. Perry, who is best known for being the creator and star of the Mabel ‘Madea’ Simmons character, has produced several films centering on the fictional Madea (the Madea Franchise) since his Broadway and Hollywood megahit Diary of a Mad Black Woman. He has also produced a string of hit TV shows, most notably Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, The Haves and the Have Nots and The Oval. 

Aside from his own productions, Mr. Perry has also appeared in a number of hit movies including Star Trek, Gone Girl and Don’t Look Up. His films have grossed over $660 million.

Despite his enormous success and great wealth, this New Orleans born actor believes that each of us has to earn our own way.

“I hired my aunt to work for me. She said she wanted a job. She would always call asking for money. I said, ‘Okay’ and I would send her off the money. But after a time I was like, ‘Listen, I want to help you. But I want to help you build this thing, not be welfare to you. So, let me give you a job,” the Superstar related a recent incident with a family member. 

“However, after she didn’t bother turning up, I had to fire her. So, I’m like, okay, well you gotta go. You want me to hand you the money but you don’t want to work for it. See, that doesn’t work for me.” He told her. 

Considering the type of no-nonsense, tough elderly woman he created with Madea, it’s not surprising his stance on living the life of hard knocks as a legitimate pathway to becoming successful is foremost in his mind.

Mr. Perry has described his childhood as a “living hell.” In contrast to his abusive father, his mother took him to church every week, where he sensed a certain refuge and contentment. At age 16, he had his last name legally changed from Emmitt to Tyler, in an effort to distance himself from his father. But many years later, after seeing the 2009 film Precious, the story of a young woman struggling against poverty and abuse, Mr. Perry was moved to reveal for the first time that he had been molested by a friend’s mother at age of 10; and that he was also molested by three men prior to that incident, and later learned that his own father had, in fact, molested his friend. A DNA test taken by Mr. Perry indicated that his father, Emmitt Sr., was not Perry’s biological father.

In his early 20s, while watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, he heard someone describe the act of writing as having a therapeutic effect, enabling the author to work out his or her own problems. This comment inspired him to apply himself to a career in writing. He soon began writing a series of letters to himself, which became the basis for his successful musical I Know I’ve Been Changed, the story includes issues including child abuse and rape and how they can be overcome by a strong belief in God. 

Forbes Magazine recently listed Mr. Perry as the highest paid man in entertainment, striking a multi-year partnership with Oprah Winfrey and her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).