While Lionsgate Films Inc. awaits a June hearing on its motion to be removed as a co-defendant in an actor’s sexual assault/battery lawsuit against the studio and Tyler Perry, the filmmaker has answered the case by calling the $77 million complaint a “transparent money grab.”
Mario Rodriguez’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit was amended on April 21, shortly after attorneys for the 56-year-old Perry and Lionsgate filed court papers with Judge Brock T. Hammond in which the studio asked for dismissal of Rodriguez’s one claim against Lionsgate for negligent retention. The amended complaint supersedes the original filed Dec. 26 and adds a negligence claim against the studio.
The judge will hear Lionsgate’s latest dismissal motion on June 23. Perry is represented by the same attorneys as Lionsgate and the lawyers filed a response to the suit on behalf of Perry on Tuesday, denying Rodriguez’s claims and contending he suffered no damages.
“Plaintiff fabricates a story based on a decade’s worth of falsehoods, misrepresentations and outlandish claims that have no basis in fact or law and no merit,” the defense attorneys write in their court papers, adding that Rodriguez is “manipulating the judicial system in a last ditch effort to shake down Perry to further fund his profligate lifestyle after years of seeking out Perry for money.”
Rodriguez’s amended complaint is a “transparent money grab,” according to the defense attorneys’ pleadings.
Rodriguez appeared in “Boo! A Madea Halloween” and accuses the filmmaker and studio mogul of leveraging his power in Hollywood to make sexual advances.
“After being cast in a very minor role in a single Perry film a decade ago, plaintiff repeatedly turned to Perry as his personal piggy bank, begging for financial assistance for his car, apartment, medical services and unpaid bills,” the defense lawyers further contend in their court papers
Meanwhile, Rodriguez always asked to be invited to spend time with Perry at his home, on trips, at events and at “fancy” dinners, the defense attorneys contend in their pleadings.
Rodriguez obtained Perry’s generosity with a feigned friendship until the filmmaker stopped giving in to Rodriguez’s alleged exploitations in 2025 and when the plaintiff’s additional requests for financial help were “met with silence,” Rodriguez became angry at the loss of his “golden goose” and made up a story that he and Perry had a non-consensual relationship, the defense attorneys state in their court papers.
Rodriguez wanted to “ignite a media firestorm, all to fuel his final money grab and thrust himself into the spotlight,” the defense attorneys allege in their court papers.
In their challenge to Rodriguez’s complaint, Lionsgate attorneys contend the plaintiff brought the studio into the case in order to try and keep the lawsuit in California and not Georgia, where Perry lives. The defense attorneys also state that by answering the complaint in Superior Court, Perry is reserving his right to remove the case to federal court.
The amended complaint also continues to lack enough facts to show that Lionsgate knew or should have known — or even could have been aware– of Perry’s alleged behavior, according to the Lionsgate motion.
The Perry/Lionsgate legal team includes attorney Alex Spiro, who has represented such well-known figures as Alec Baldwin, Elon Musk, Jay-Z, Eric Adams and Bobby Shmurda.