Tyler Perry called out Hollywood studios at this year’s BET Awards, stressing that he has created more Black millionaires than any studio.
“I can tell you this, I have made more Black millionaires, hear me when I say this, than any studio in this city combined,” Perry, who has the largest Black-owned studio in America, said while also discussing his life footprint.
“Because I’m making footprints. So I don’t care if you’re struggling, if you’re trying to make it, you’re trying to build a business, if you have a dream, keep making footprints. Don’t let anybody stop you, you can do it.”
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In 2020 when Perry became a billionaire, Forbes wrote that one of the contributory factors to his success was his exclusive 100% ownership of his works. At the time, this included over 1,200 television episodes, 22 movies, and at least 24 stage plays, as well as his 330-acre, multifaceted Atlanta studio, which he officially opened in 2019.
READ ALSO: Tyler Perry is officially a billionaire – Forbes
All of Perry’s films – to which he also fully owns the rights – have also grossed almost $1 billion in revenue.
“My father was a subcontractor, and he would get paid on Fridays and be so happy that he had made $800,” Perry said about ownership. “But I would watch the man that owned the house sell it and make $80,000. So I always knew that there was more power in the man that owned the house rather than the man that actually was working on it and building it. So I always wanted to be the guy that owned the house.”
Per a breakdown of his fortune done by Forbes at that time, Perry had $300 million in cash and investments, $320 million from his catalog of movies, shows, plays, etc, $280 million for his 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, $60 million for his BET+ equity stake and $40 million in homes and toys.
With a career worthy of admiration, Perry’s rise to success is a story worth telling as he grew up in a poor home and had an abusive father. At a point, Perry had to make a home in his car.
In his 2019 BET Awards acceptance speech for the Icon Award, Perry spoke about his motive behind opening the studio.
“When I built my studio, [it was in the] poorest Black neighborhood in Atlanta so the kids can see that a Black man did that, and they can too,” he said.
“The studio was once a confederate army base,” Perry continued. “And, I want you to hear this, which meant that there was Confederate soldiers on that base, plotting and planning on how to keep 3.9 million negroes enslaved. Now that land is owned by one negro,” he said.
In recent years, some actors and actresses have spoken out about how they are paid what they are worth at Tyler Perry Studios.
Taraji P. Henson said on an episode of Variety’s: Actors on Actors that Tyler Perry Studios was the first studio that paid her asking price of $500,000 for a role.
“I’ve been trying to prove and improve. I was asking for half a million. I didn’t get paid that until I did my first Tyler Perry film. He was the first person who paid me $500,000. I was never in a position where I could not take a job,” Henson said to actress Ellen Pompeo.
Now Henson and probably other Black actors and actresses Perry has worked with can turn down roles that are not paying them adequately, as Perry helps them to generate wealth.
Indeed, Black women have also supported Perry over the years and the billionaire filmmaker acknowledged that in his BET Awards 2025 speech.
“I think about my incredible audience who’s a lot of men, a lot of women, but hear me when I tell you this, Black women have held me down and I appreciate you like you would not believe,” he said.
