Tyler Perry is sparking backlash for calling his critics "highbrow" with a dated racial term used to describe Black people.
The movie mogul addressed criticism of his films on the "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast, telling host Keke Palmer that "a large portion of my fans are disenfranchised, who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend."
He used the example of a "highbrow" critic "who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything," asking critics: "Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important, or should be told? Get out of here with that."
Keke Palmer stars in Usher's 'Boyfriend'music video following Vegas controversy: Watch
Perry continued, contrasting his fans against his critics: "Then, you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it's like, whose mothers were caregivers for white kids and were maids, housekeepers, beauticians. Don't discount these people and say their stories don't matter."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Perry, whose real-time net worth is $1.4 billion according to Forbes, built a Hollywood dynasty from his controversial depictions of Black life, including the 2005 film "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and the "Madea" movie franchise.
The backlash from Perry's podcast comments was swift. Preston Mitchum, who stars on Bravo's "Summer House: Martha's Vineyard" and is a frequent commentator on racial issues, challenged the industry titan.
"Yes, because writing and producing a movie where a Black woman from a small town cheated on her husband, acquired HIV, then ended up physically disabled is absolutely the groundbreaking Black story we need to see," Mitchum wrote on X, while adding that Perry "is a literal BILLIONAIRE and calling us 'highbrow.'"
Mitchum's comments appear to be in reference to Perry's controversial 2013 film, "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor." Other X users chided Perry's comments, writing that "the moment you need to call your critics names is the moment you start proving that they're probably right."
Another said that his movies "paint successful women as unwanted and waiting to be saved. I just don't like his work."
2025-01-12 15:182416 view
2025-01-12 15:172169 view
2025-01-12 14:56729 view
2025-01-12 14:471856 view
2025-01-12 13:482324 view
2025-01-12 13:06365 view
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced Thursday in Asia after Wall Street resumed its upward climb, as an up
Trader Joe's has recalled about 653,000 scented candles Thursday because the flame can spread from t
Ten U.S. service members from the Naval Air Station Fallon were flown in to Reno, Nevada after injur