Tyler Perry Says Backlash Against His TLC Show’s White Cast Members is ‘Reverse Racism’
Tyler Perry‘s most recent television project, “Too Close to Home,” received backlash for having a predominately white cast. The filmmaker is known for creating projects that feature African-American actors and the change made some of his fans criticize his TLC show on social media.
Now, Perry is responding to those who have questioned his casting decisions by saying, “That’s totally reverse racism, because it was coming from African-American people,” he told The Associated Press.
“I don’t know if it was because they thought I should only be giving jobs to black people. Well, I think that’s ridiculous,” Perry added. “If you look at the hundreds of black people I’ve given jobs to and even the ones I’ve made millionaires, people of color, I just think it’s unfair.”
READ MORE: Tyler Perry Says He Still Has ‘Issues Getting Screens in White Neighborhoods’
Perry stated that his time traveling and interacting with different people has made him color-blind.
“I’m just finding out more as I travel the country and world, the more I meet people, we’re all the same,” he explained. “We all got the same dramas. So I’m not seeing color as much as I did anymore in the sense of our stories. Our stories are so similar.”
“Too Close to Home,” which premiered on TLC in August, tells the story of a Anna (Danielle Savre), a young woman who moves back home to Alabama after word gets out that she had an affair with the US president, and is forced to leave Washington, D.C. The series co-stars Kelly Sullivan, Brock O’Hurn, Matt Battaglia and Heather Locklear.
Perry’s most recent film was “Boo! A Madea Halloween” and he currently has the series “The Haves and the Have Nots” on OWN. The second half of the first season of “Too Close To Home” premieres January 4 on TLC.
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