On December 13, Mario Rodriguez posted a video to his nearly one million Instagram followers. He spoke about feeling “scared and ashamed.” He referenced a “very big director, a seriously powerful person that everybody knows.” He didn’t say a name.
“I stayed quiet for much too long,” Rodriguez said. “If I would’ve spoken up sooner, I could’ve saved somebody that this probably happened to after me.”
He told his followers to stay tuned.
Twelve days later, on Christmas Day, he filed a $77 million lawsuit against Tyler Perry.
Rodriguez, a model and actor who played “Frat Guy #10” in Perry’s 2016 film Boo! A Madea Halloween, alleges Perry subjected him to repeated unwanted sexual advances over several years, including incidents at Perry’s Los Angeles home. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Variety, also names Lionsgate as a defendant, accusing the studio of ignoring Perry’s alleged behavior.
According to the complaint, Rodriguez was approached in 2015 by a trainer at a Los Angeles Equinox gym who told him Perry wanted his phone number. Perry later called and encouraged him to audition for the Madea film. Rodriguez told Perry he had no acting experience. Perry allegedly replied: “I’m not a bad person to know and have in your corner.”
The lawsuit describes multiple alleged incidents between 2016 and 2019. In one 2018 encounter, Rodriguez claims Perry grabbed his genitals and told him to “let it happen,” adding: “If you were to just be with me, I would take care of you, and you wouldn’t have to ever worry about anything.” Rodriguez alleges Perry gave him $5,000 after the incident.
Perry has denied all allegations. His attorney, Alex Spiro, called the lawsuit “yet another demand from more than a decade ago which will also be a failed money grab,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Spiro is a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and one of the most prominent defense attorneys in the country. His clients have included Elon Musk, Jay-Z, and Alec Baldwin, whose manslaughter charges in the Rust shooting were dismissed in July 2024. A 2023 New Yorker profile described him as a lawyer who has “come to specialize in protecting the rich and famous from the consequences of their poorest decisions.”
This is the second sexual assault lawsuit filed against Perry this year. In June, actor Derek Dixon, who appeared in Perry’s BET series The Oval, sued for $260 million, alleging harassment, assault, and retaliation. Perry denied those claims as well. Both accusers are represented by the same attorney, Jonathan Delshad.
When Dixon’s lawsuit was filed, Perry’s attorney Matthew Boyd called it “nothing more than setting up a scam,” adding that Perry “will not be shaken down.”
But what’s notable about Rodriguez’s case isn’t just the allegations — it’s the rollout. By posting a vague but emotionally charged video two weeks before filing suit, Rodriguez built anticipation among his followers. He created a narrative arc: silence, then courage, then action. By the time the lawsuit dropped, he wasn’t an unknown accuser. He was someone people were already watching.
That’s the new playbook. Social media first, then court. The jury of public opinion convenes before the legal one does.
Whether the allegations hold up will be determined in the months ahead. Perry says they won’t. Rodriguez’s attorney, Jonathan Delshad, said in a statement that his client is “looking forward to his day in court.” But the case is already being tried somewhere else — in comments, shares, and posts. That’s how these stories unfold now.
