Tyler Perry Addresses ‘Divorce in the Black’ Criticism: The ‘Highbrow Negro’ Can ‘Get out Of Here’
Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
Tyler Perry won’t let the negative criticism of his films affect him. In a new interview with KeKe Palmer, the entertainment mogul responded to the backlash his most recent film Divorce in the Black received. Despite a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and unfavorable reviews, according to Perry, “You have to drown all that out.”
After its release, Divorce in the Black, starring Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict, became the top Prime Video movie, a testament to Perry’s loyal fanbase and core audience. However, critics took issue with Perry’s asinine script and cringy storyline and called out Perry for not using his resources and platform to bring on writers who would elevate his product.
“If you let somebody talk you out of a place that God has put you in, you are going to find yourself in hell,” he said. “I know for a fact that what I’m doing is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing, because for everyone who is a critic, I have thousands of — what used to be — emails from people saying, ‘This changed my life. Oh my God, you know me. Oh my God, you saw me. How did you know this about my life and my family?’ That is what is important to me.”
He went on to talk about his audience. “A large portion of my fans are disenfranchised, who cannot get in the Volvo and go to therapy on the weekend. So, you’ve got this highbrow negro who is all up in the air with his nose up looking at everything, then you got people like where I come from, and me, who are grinders, who really know what it’s like. Whose mothers were caregivers for white kids, and were maids, housekeepers…beauticians. Don’t discount these people and say their stories don’t matter. Who are you to be able to say which Black story is important, or should be told? Get out of here with that bullsh*t.”
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
You may not be a fan of Perry’s productions, but they employ hundreds of Black folk. Taraji P. Henson and Meagan Good both praised the showrunner for paying them their worth.
“He [Perry] was like ‘You deserve this’ ’cause I was already thinking in my head like, what I was going to ask, and I was like, ‘Oh, is this too much?’” she shared.
She continued, “I was like, ‘I don’t want to lose the job.’ ‘Cause I come from that generation when you’re working in the ’90s and 2000s when women ask for something you are perceived to be a certain kind of way or when you show up a certain way. When you’re assertive, you’re perceived to be a certain kind of way… But that’s what I love about Tyler, ’cause he was like, ‘I was already going to give that to you.’… I started crying.”
In an interview with Variety, Taraji revealed, “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 that gave — that broke the standard that I was getting paid for films, and he gave me $500,000.”
Watch Perry’s full interview with Keke, below:
RELATED STORIES:
Meagan Good Explains Why Her Latest Role In Tyler Perry’s ‘Divorce in the Black’ Was ‘Therapeutic’
Meagan Good And Jonathan Majors Are Picture Perfect And ‘Doing Good’
The post Tyler Perry Addresses ‘Divorce in the Black’ Criticism: The ‘Highbrow Negro’ Can ‘Get out Of Here’ appeared first on Black America Web.
