Text messages show that Tyler Perry and “Boo! A Madea Halloween” actor Mario Rodriguez, who recently filed a lawsuit accusing the filmmaker of sexual assault, remained in contact years after Rodriguez alleges their interactions ended.
Rodriguez alleged in the lawsuit filed last week in California that Perry assaulted him during encounters that occurred between 2014 and 2019. The lawsuit says Rodriguez cut off contact with Perry in 2019, though Perry would periodically reach out afterward. But screenshots of text messages obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday night show Rodriguez initiating contact with Perry as recently as Thanksgiving 2024 and again on Aug. 31, 2025, expressing gratitude, friendship and financial distress.
In one message sent on Thanksgiving, Rodriguez thanked Perry for helping him through difficult periods in his life and wrote that he appreciated him “to the moon,” according to the screenshots. In another series of messages dated Aug. 31,
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