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Liberty. Liberty. Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, December 30, and we have an update on the Christmas Day sexual assault lawsuit filed against Tyler Perry after some newly revealed text messages have made their way to the public. His accuser has some explaining to do, and he is explaining himself. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Ropes. How much does this change the story? We've seen this plenty. Sexual assault accusers, right? They make an accusation, and then something comes out where they remained friendly with their alleged accuser. How does this change a story like this?
A
So I don't think that because the texts are friendly that that changes anything. Because you are correct. We have seen this plenty of times, and we've heard from experts who say this is common behavior from people who have been victimized. They some reason try to maintain a cordial relationship with their accused abuser. But to me, these texts reveal something a little bit more than that, because in them, he's painting a sad picture of his life. He's asking for money. So it shows his state of mind as recently as August of this year.
B
And that's a problem because he claimed in his lawsuit that he cut off. He cut off communication with Tyler Perry years ago because of the alleged abuse. So we will get into those very big points, but I guess, Rose, we need to go back for folks who aren't familiar. Christmas Day, Tyler Perry gets hit with a $77 million lawsuit.
A
Yes, this is an aspiring actor and model. His name is Mario Rodriguez. He claims that from 2015 to 2019, Tyler Perry made unwanted sexual advances towards him. He says that he was sexually, uh, he making claims of sexual abuse and sexual battery. And he claims at one point that Tyler Perry even reached down into his pants and grabbed his penis and then shoved $5,000 in his, I guess, pockets as he was leaving, putting him in an Uber. So he describes this awful thing, and eventually, after that incident, boom, he cuts off communication with Tyler Perry. And he said Tyler Perry occasionally would text him over the years beyond that. But the text messages that we just were shown show a very different story. It shows Mario Rodriguez reaching out to Tyler Perry, not the other way around.
B
And again, that flies in the face of credibility in a lawsuit that already maybe had some issues, including misspelling the movie studio that you're also accusing in this lawsuit. So this just flies in the face of credibility. But, Robes, we do have to make the point that we have seen Things like this before, that is not uncommon to see. But let's go through now. We will share with you the text, and we should also say where these are coming from. The Associated Press said they got their hands on these. They're not revealing their source, but these are screen grabs from text messages that they've seen. Again, the ap, and again, we're talking about who the accuser is, because the accuser has put his name on this lawsuit. It's not something we normally do, but Mario Rodriguez. But these are the text messages now that have come out and are in question. And it should be said. I mean, he's acknowledging the. That these are real.
A
Oh, yes. He's not denying that these are real. In fact, he made a statement about these text messages particularly. So, yes, actually, if you want to, he confirmed essentially the validity of them by reacting to them and actually defending them.
B
But how many in total do we have?
A
I have. So he had. There's an exchange from Thanksgiving of 2024, and then there's basically a bunch of texts from Mario Rodriguez to Tyler Perry on August 31st of this year. So two different text exchanges. The first one we'll start. I guess we'll just do chronologically Thanksgiving of 2024. So just a year ago, Mario Rodriguez wrote this to Tyler Perry. You know that I love you and I thank you for everything. I appreciate you to the moon. You got my Mexican ass out of a lot of bad places, and I just want to tell you thank you, thank you. I can't buy you anything, but I just want to tell you that your boy right here appreciates you more than anything. Straight from my heart, bro. Nothing I wouldn't do for you, man. Anyways, enjoy your time, and I hope to see you again soon.
B
And again, from all accounts, this is unsolicited. It's not like he's responding to something from Tyler Perry. And again, his lawsuit, he claims he stopped reaching out to the guy.
A
That is correct. So this flies in the face of that because, again, this is Thanksgiving of 2024. Tyler Perry responds in this text exchange and. And says, happy Thanksgiving, my friend. Yep, you've been through it. I'm glad you're doing well. You don't have to give me a thing or pay me a thing. I'm just glad you're good. And then Mario Rodriguez responds, I'm still going through it, but you know me, man. I'm a survivor just like you are. And I'm glad that you're my friend, and I love you, bro. Respectfully, all right, again, I.
B
You. You look at that and somebody's accusing someone and asking them for or demanding $77 million. That text exchange will be brought up in a lawsuit, in a courtroom, and go to his state of mind. Now, both sides will argue differently. Right. But that is clearly what friendly. It was unsolicited.
A
I would say it's more than friendly. It was loving. It was grateful. It was appreciative. Look, and look, if he says he took cut off all communication in 2019, this is 2024. This is five years later.
B
So I think I take more issue with that discrepancy versus what's in the content of this because Ro we. How many fricking messages did we go through in the damn Diddy trial? How many times do we read loving messages that came periods in time and years after he's physically abusing people. So I guess the content's not surprising, but the timing is I'm scratching my head about it.
A
Correct. Correct. I agree. And then as recently as August 31, 2025, this is the text message. Actually, the effusive one wasn't as big of a deal. To me, this one is. So this was just from a few months ago. This is from Mario Rodriguez to Tyler Perry. Brother haven't been feeling okay. Confused and ill. Nauseous. I got blood work thinks it's my teeth. I know it's none of your business. Idk. What do I know? I promise you I would never ask you for anything. But if it is what I think it is, I don't think I could do it on my own because I can barely pay my bills.
C
Scared.
A
Af. I don't want to get sepsis like my dad and pass away. I don't even want to mention it because I don't want to make it real. I feel sick most days. Never told anybody this, but my mom and everybody is starting to notice my broke ass don't have insurance. I'd never like. I'd never lie to you, but I think that's what's wrong. My dentist is supposed to take care of it in Beverly Hills, but he's in prison for fraud. I've always been healthy, but lately I've been waking up confused and dizzy and a bunch of stuff. I just can't go to the doctor because I can't even afford it. I don't want anything. I just want to be okay. Scared brother.
B
Was there a response that they needed.
A
From so if Tyler Perry stopped responding to him, I don't know if that's the case. But if there was no response and then a lawsuit comes a few months later, that's problematic.
B
Okay. You got to give. And we always, always, always, right. Want to give space for the accuser and what their experience might have been. And that's fine. We will leave that open. We have to put together a very big but here. Because you're talking about August 31st of this year. The other lawsuit was what, June? Yes, that. The other actor, 200, what, 60 million or something? Lawsuit. Now, this guy Mario Rodriguez has admitted that once he saw that lawsuit filed, that is what put him in the mindset of, wow, this is happening to other people. I need to speak out. I need to say something. But you had three months, and in that three months, you asked Tyler Perry for something. You asked him for financial help in that time. Robes. That doesn't bode well.
A
It doesn't. And we don't know what happened. The only two people who know what happened are Mario Rodriguez and Tyler Perry. But these text messages are a window into at least his mindset in August. And it doesn't jibe with what he is saying in his lawsuit. In terms of what his mindset was when he first saw the news about Derek Dixon's lawsuit in June and what we're hearing from him now on Christmas Day, when he filed this lawsuit, everything.
B
He filed in that lawsuit, even if it's true, this looks bad for your argument. I was moved because this is happening to other young men. So I need to speak out. I need to say something. And you're the thing he was thinking about first, though, right? He knew about the lawsuit, of course, in June, July. He's got three, four months that he knows about this lawsuit. And he didn't think about filing his own. He didn't think about other young men. He didn't.
D
What?
B
Not at that time, at least. Or maybe he was. Maybe this was a way to. Maybe. Maybe he'll hook me up. Maybe this was his way of. No, let me stop saying maybe, Robes. That is just for an attorney. They are going to hold on to that text message.
A
Yes, it looks like a fishing expedition after you see that somebody is already now vulnerable and now not wanting probably any more negative press or certainly anything that would act as though this was a pattern of behavior. So, yes, he reached out at a time where clearly Tyler Perry was vulnerable and talked about his own vulnerability, talked about his own needs, medically and financially, and that can't be ignored.
B
I'm laughing because I stopped myself. I was like, you know what? Nevermind and you flat out said it. So this is a fishing expedition.
A
Well, that's what it sounds like.
B
That is exactly the thing. I stopped and I wasn't gonna speculate and then you just boom. But no, that's the point. It's going to come off to somebody like he's testing the waters, correct? Right this he knows that maybe I can do something to him. So let me just kind of drop this. That is how it's going to be spun by his attorney. And his attorney has been talking and talking plenty and he's talking again about these new revelations. But here's the thing folks, he ain't saying a whole lot different than he said the first time that this is a flat out money grabbing scam. Stay here.
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B
All right, folks, we continue here on Amy and tj. I I guess I should probably just let you take it from here. I'm trying to tiptoe and be careful with my words. You are absolutely saying it and keeping it real and saying what a lot of people are thinking. Robes and dealing with these stories are very difficult because you want to. You have to leave room for the accuser and what they possibly went through. But when you're talking about destroying a man's reputation, you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars he's on the line for. Yes, there is going to be scrutiny, and there should be, right?
A
Yes, I believe so. And I do think I've said this before, and I understand that it takes time and this isn't an easy thing to do for someone to come forward. But when you come forward in a civil lawsuit versus a criminal proceeding, where you take it to the police versus taking it to a lawyer, I do think there is a different level of scrutiny involved as well, just in terms of people's skepticism as to the intent or why you're asking for such a large sum of money versus going to the police and seeking some sort of justice through our criminal justice system. Now, we should mention Mario Rodriguez has come out, we mentioned before the break, and spoken out about these text messages. He's not denying them. He is not saying they're not real. He's actually defending them. And here's what he said. People are pointing to messages where I was polite, grateful, or vulnerable and trying to use that to discredit me. Survivors often stay cordial. They often ask for help when they feel desperate. That doesn't mean that abuse didn't happen. Those messages were sent to Perry at a time when I was especially vulnerable, as can be seen from the context. He went on to say, continued financial support and access are not inconsistent with abuse. They are often part of the power dynamics that follow it.
B
True.
A
Yes. Agreed.
B
Everything he said is true. Someone else could look at that and say he's, well, trying to cover his bases.
A
Correct.
B
He's explaining things away to a certain degree. Look, it's a fine line between an excuse and a reason. And this will come off as he's just making excuses for it and using a legitimate reason that other people often have.
A
Yeah, because I don't think anyone. I don't think most people are. Now, at this point, with all that we've seen in trials and things coming out from the MeToo movement, we all understand that that is true, that someone or a. An alleged victim or a victim being cordial with their abuser, that we have absolutely seen cases of that. But I don't think that's what the problem is for him with these texts. It's not about him being cordial. It's not about him being grateful. It's not even about him expressing love or gratitude. We've seen that all before. This is about the inconsistency of what he said in his lawsuit about what he did, that he cut off ties, that Tyler Perry was reaching back out to him. This basically reveals something very different than what he was describing in his lawsuit. Yes.
B
He gave us a. This is a different direction, is a different story. We had one idea in our mind about how this thing possibly went, and he told one story. This is a very big detail to leave out of your story. Wrote. He had to know. He knew what he had done the past several months. He knew he reached out in August. I mean, he might have reached out more recently. And this has now come out, and we don't know where it came from. Do you think. Do you have an idea maybe where this had come from?
A
I would think if I were Tyler Perry. I would want those texts to come out for sure. I would want the other side to be shown. I would want people to have a fuller picture of the experience he had. Now, Tyler Perry hasn't said anything correct about this in particular, just through his attorney. Just through his attorney who I love what Alex Spiro said. I said it before and I'll say it again. This is nothing but a $77 million money grab scam.
B
End of statement, period. What else do you need to know? That is all they're saying. And this guy, remind me, it was Alec Baldwin, Jay Z, who this guy has defended.
A
He has some incredible experience with some heavy hitters being accused of some pretty heinous things.
B
I don't know where this goes from here. Again, it was filed on Christmas Day. It's just a coincidence. I'm sure that it was filed on that day. $77 million. But, Robes, these are difficult stories. We'll continue to speak on this one. And this is another Robes Weinstein. I'm not comparing these two in any way. What I'm saying. Tyler Perry is at a height and at a level of success. And there they are. Empires and people and networks and careers that could end if he goes down in some way.
A
It's a big deal. It's a huge deal.
B
This can't be a bigger name out there that for something like this to start happening to. And again, I want to be clear, a comparison. I'm not trying to suggest he is in any way guilty of the same heinous things that Weinstein is. But I'm saying that the type of collapse something like this causes. This isn't just a celebrity. This is a guy who has created shows, he has created movies. He has created careers. He's created a studio in Atlanta, a whole studio.
A
He has a movie empire.
B
He does. And so this is a very important story we will keep our eye on. But we just wanted to get you this update that it came in yesterday and overnight. We'll keep an eye on it. Stay with us here on Amy and tj. Our feed will be full of all kinds of updates during the day. Of course, our morning run coming your way here in just a couple hours. You can look for that. And what's the other? We have a crazy, crazy story to update you about, especially at a time when people are going to be thinking about the holidays. Robes drinking alone has been banned in a bar. Yes, folks, we got a full day here on Amy and tj. So by all means, stick with us. We always appreciate you spending some time, but for now I'm TJ Holmes. On behalf of my dear Amy Roach, we will talk to y' all soon.
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Guaranteed Human.
Episode: Tyler Perry UPDATE: Accuser Has Some Explaining To Do After Newly Revealed Texts
Date: December 30, 2025
Hosts: Amy Robach (A), T.J. Holmes (B)
This episode delivers an update on the high-profile Christmas Day sexual assault lawsuit filed against Tyler Perry by Mario Rodriguez. Amy and T.J. analyze the impact of newly surfaced text messages that challenge the accuser’s account, examining their implications for the credibility and trajectory of the case. The hosts discuss patterns commonly observed in such cases, scrutinize claims made in the lawsuit versus the documented communication, and reflect on the possible motivations behind the allegations.
Amy Robach:
“He says that he was sexually, uh, he making claims of sexual abuse and sexual battery. … Boom, he cuts off communication with Tyler Perry. And he said Tyler Perry occasionally would text him over the years… But the text messages that we just were shown show a very different story."
Mario Rodriguez’s Thanksgiving 2024 Message (read by Amy):
"You know that I love you and I thank you for everything… You got my Mexican ass out of a lot of bad places… thank you, thank you."
T.J. Holmes:
"And again, from all accounts, this is unsolicited. … in his lawsuit, he claims he stopped reaching out to the guy."
Amy Robach:
“This is Thanksgiving 2024… this is five years later.”
Amy Robach:
"As recently as August 31, 2025… This is the text message. Actually, the effusive one wasn’t as big of a deal. To me, this one is."
T.J. Holmes:
“If Tyler Perry stopped responding to him, I don’t know if that’s the case. But if there was no response and then a lawsuit comes a few months later, that’s problematic.”
Hosts recognize that victims sometimes maintain friendly relations with their abusers, but:
Amy: “But these texts reveal something a little bit more than that, because in them, he’s painting a sad picture of his life. He’s asking for money. So it shows his state of mind as recently as August of this year.” [03:39]
T.J. refers to high-profile trials, noting that friendly communication between accuser and accused can still happen post-abuse, but the timeline here is difficult to explain.
T.J. Holmes:
“I take more issue with that discrepancy versus what’s in the content of this… the timing is I’m scratching my head about it.”
Amy Robach (paraphrased Rodriguez, quoting):
"People are pointing to messages where I was polite, grateful, or vulnerable and trying to use that to discredit me. … Those messages were sent … when I was especially vulnerable, as can be seen from the context."
T.J. Holmes:
"Everything he said is true. Someone else could look at that and say he's, well, trying to cover his bases."
No direct comment from Perry yet, only statements through his attorney, Alex Spiro:
Spiro's background involves defending many high-profile clients.
T.J. Holmes:
“This isn’t just a celebrity. This is a guy who has created shows, he has created movies. He has created careers. He’s created a studio in Atlanta, a whole studio.”
"[The texts] will be brought up in a lawsuit, in a courtroom, and go to his state of mind. ... That is clearly what friendly. It was unsolicited." [07:54]
"Survivors often stay cordial. They often ask for help when they feel desperate. That doesn’t mean that abuse didn’t happen." [17:41]
"They are going to hold onto that text message." [12:17]
“I would want those texts to come out for sure. I would want the other side to be shown. I would want people to have a fuller picture of the experience he had." [20:34]
"Tyler Perry is at a height and at a level of success... and there they are, empires and people and networks and careers that could end if he goes down in some way." [21:59]
| Timestamp | Segment / Content Description | |-------------|--------------------------------| | 02:48 | Update intro; context of lawsuit and new texts | | 04:36 | Lawsuit claims and Rodriguez’s story | | 06:19 | First text exchange (Thanksgiving 2024) | | 07:54 | Hosts analyze meaning and importance of messages | | 08:52 | August 2025 message: Rodriguez asks Perry for help | | 10:04 | Legal implications of timing and content | | 11:12 | Consideration of accuser’s credibility and motivations | | 17:41 | Rodriguez’s official response to text message revelations | | 21:02 | Tyler Perry’s attorney’s statement | | 21:59 | Discussion of the broader stakes and impact |