Recently, Alfonso Ribeiro, famous for playing Carlton Banks in the '90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, stirred controversy due to his tweet. Unlike his co-star Will Smith, Alfonso never really made it big on the big screen after his stint on the comedy TV series. He was mostly known for his dance moves on the show, which became dubbed "The Carlton" after his character. Alfonso took his dancing skills a level higher when he won the 19th season of Dancing With The Stars. He returned to the show as the co-host in Season 31 and continues in the role to this day. However, despite his success in DWTS, many feel he should have achieved much more.
During a recent chat with Closer Weekly, Alfonso spoke about his lack of roles on television. The actor revealed his career stalled after playing Carlton Banks. He revealed, "It was one of the greatest roles that I ever was fortunate enough to play, but it was also the role that stopped me from acting again because people couldn’t see me as anything else." Following Alfonso's revelations, a fan made a suggestion. The fan wrote, "@tylerperry needs to revamp @alfonso_ribeiro career, I just know he could." However, the actor-dancer responded to the fan by writing, "I don’t need or ever want that man to do anything for me."
Following the reaction, many fans wondered what could be going on between him and Tyler Perry. Some suggested there could be beef brewing between Alfonso and the mega-filmmaker, while others felt the producer had some skeletons in his cupboard, which the actor knew about. Hence, fans called on Alfonso to open up if he knew something about Tyler that the world doesn't. Further, he is not the only person in the entertainment industry that has issues with Tyler. Many other celebrities have called the entertainment mogul out on different occasions. Here are five celebrities who have beef with Tyler Perry.
5. Tyler Perry Beef With Spike Lee
Despite being widely regarded as a significant figure in Black entertainment, Tyler Perry had his work called into question by legendary film director Spike Lee in 2009. During a discussion about Black art and entertainment, Lee emphasized the need for artists to have personal liberty. He went ahead to criticize creators like Perry for perpetuating negative stereotypes about Black Americans. He said producers like Tyler propagated racist ideas while exploiting the worst impulses of American audiences. Spike explained, "Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavours, but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is 'coonery buffoonery.'"
Tyler responded to Spike's comments during an appearance on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace. He expressed that such comments weren't new to him. The movie producer said elitism was to blame for the criticisms against his Madea character. He also said the stories he tells in his works originated from his experiences growing up, especially when he spent time with his mom and her friends. Tyler further said his brand of entertainment was motivated by love. He explained per People, "So when someone says, 'You're harkening back to a point of our life that we don't want to talk about it or we don’t want the world to see,’ you’re dismissing the stories of millions and millions of Black people."
Tyler Perry's beef with Spike Lee cooled off years later. In June 2022, Tyler attended the Tribeca Film Festival, where he told Gayle King that he named one of the sound stages at his Studio in Atlanta after Lee. Spike celebrated the honor Tyler accorded him in an Instagram post. He thanked Tyler and urged him to continue doing God's work.
4. Katt Williams
Katt Williams went viral in January 2024 following a three-hour interview with Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast. During the interview, Katt didn't mince words as he called out some of Hollywood's biggest entertainers. Some of the people Katt slammed in the interview included Steve Harvey, Cedric Entertainer, and Diddy. Tyler Perry didn't escape Katt's wrath. Katt mentioned Tyler's name while discussing his beef with comedian Rickey Smiley. Apparently, Katt isn't a fan of Tyler portraying a female character, Madea. Katt sees Tyler and Rickey's portrayal of female characters negatively and feels they sacrificed their dignity to dress as women. Hence, while speaking about his fallout with Rickey, Katt said Rickey and "Tyler Perry can't play a man to save they life."
That wasn't the first time Katt expressed disdain for Tyler's Madea character. Per BET, the comedian shared his opinion about Tyler during a special interview with Rock Rants. Katt was asked to describe celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Anthony Anderson, and Drake. However, when Perry's name came up, he referred to him as a "Drag Queen." Meanwhile, Tyler has never responded to Katt's remarks about him.
3. Dave Chappelle
Tyler Perry's continued portrayal of Madea has earned him many critics. One person with longstanding issues with Tyler dressing like and playing a female character is comedian Dave Chappelle. Dave has never hidden his disdain for men playing women characters or dressing as women in movies. During a 2014 interview with GQ, the legendary comedian spoke about Tyler's influence. He said, "I can’t see how my life is harder because Tyler Perry exists. You know? I mean, I can certainly debate the artistic merits of his movies or the lack thereof, but to me that’s almost an irrelevant conversation, because I’m more impressed with what he was able to achieve." Despite not being a fan of Tyler's work, Dave expressed that there was a place for him in Hollywood and commended him for reaching a different audience with his movies and TV shows.
Tyler responded to Dave's criticism during an appearance on T.I.'s ExpediTIously podcast. He said, "Listen, Chappelle is one of the most brilliant people I have ever seen in my life. Not just in comedy, but the man is smart. A heavy, brilliant thinker." Tyler went ahead to clarify that nobody forced him to play a woman character or wear a dress. He said, "Nobody makes me put it on. It was all on stage. Black man owned the whole show, it was my choice." Tyler further expressed that he wasn't a man who enjoyed wearing a dress. However, for him as an actor, it was a costume, and he was doing it to encourage people and make them laugh.
2. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have been friends for over a decade. However, rumors about a strain in their friendship emerged in March 2016. A source told the Daily Mail Oprah had difficulties working with Tyler. The source also claimed Oprah hated that Tyler couldn't take constructive criticism. At the time of the reports, Tyler had three series running on Oprah's OWN Network. The insider shared that Oprah suggested they hire more script writers to help develop Tyler's shows, most especially The Have and the Have Nots. She went ahead to share with Tyler details of research from focus groups, whose general consensus was that the writing could improve significantly.
The source claimed that Tyler didn't buy Oprah's feedback and became defensive. Tyler reportedly told Oprah, "Aren't the shows delivering ratings for the network? Well, then let me do what I do and you can keep your focus group research to yourself." According to the insider, Oprah, who allowed Tyler to join her network after TBS didn't renew his contract, reminded him of how important she was to him. The source revealed, "Oprah basically had to remind him, "You needed me as much as I needed you when we decided to do this partnership and don't forget that." The insider further shared that the disagreement led the Hollywood moguls to stop communicating as much as they did before.
However, after news of Winfrey and Perry's beef made headlines, the former's close friend, Gayle King, said it was false. Taking to Instagram, Gayle shared a screenshot of the Daily Mail article and captioned it, "Huh? Just reading @Oprah & @tylerperry are angry w/each other & not speaking if that’s true (it”ain’t”)must have just happened 10 min ago!" Tyler also slammed the rumors in a chat with Entertainment Tonight. He said, "It's completely false. Nothing is accurate in the article except for my and Oprah's names."
1. Tyler Perry Beef With Mo'Nique
Tyler Perry's beef with Mo'Nique began in 2009 after the film Precious was released in theaters. The movie was successful and earned Mo'Nique a Golden Globe and Academy Award. However, tensions existed between Mo'Nique and the movie's producers, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, and director Lee Daniels. As part of efforts to promote the film, Mo'Nique was asked to appear at the Cannes Film Festival. However, being present at Cannes to promote Precious wasn't part of Mo'Nique's contract, and she wasn't going to be paid for it. Hence, she refused to attend the film festival.
During a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Mo'Nique opened up about the situation. She revealed that she told Winfrey, "Oprah, I’m doing a talk show. I’m doing a comedy tour. I have a husband and I have babies. I have a little bit of downtime and I’m going to take advantage of it. So I’m not going anywhere because I’m not obligated to go anywhere. I’ve done my part." Mo'Nique further claimed that she was blackballed from the entertainment industry after she refused to promote the film without pay. Hence, she demanded an apology from Oprah and Tyler for their roles in stifling her career. She also claimed that Lee Daniels personally expressed regret about the way she was treated by producers.
In 2022, Mo'Nique had an interview with TS Madison and claimed Tyler promised to admit his wrongdoings to the public. However, Tyler reportedly didn't keep to that promise. Despite Tyler's no-show, Mo'Nique claimed she had an audio recording of her conversation with him in which he made the promise. Mo'Nique reignited her beef with Tyler Perry when she appeared on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast in February 2024.
During the podcast, Mo'Nique opened up about her audio recording of Tyler, in which he admitted to spreading the rumor that she was difficult to work with. She lamented how the rumor made her lose millions of dollars in opportunities. However, Tyler has reportedly strongly refuted Mo'Nique's claims. In May, Mo'Nique joined Katt Williams on tour and had more to say about Tyler and Oprah, calling them "coon motherf*****s." Tyler Perry's beef with Mo'Nique is 15 years old, but it doesn't look like it is ending soon.
