The British media does the same thing with Tyler Perry and Oprah – they treat Black American billionaire multi-hyphenates like they’re virtual unknowns, or only known locally in American backwaters. I’ll never forget the “Oprah WHO?” interview from Prince Edward and Sophie. That certainly spoke volumes about how the Windsors and their media partners treat successful Black people. Currently, Tyler Perry is promoting his latest Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight. He agreed to an interview with The Times of London to promote the film, and the Times’ headline is seriously: “Tyler Perry, the billionaire who lent Harry and Meghan his LA home.” That’s the only reason they know him, okay?? And of course the Times barraged Perry with questions about the Sussexes right off the bat:
Though Perry is a household name in the States, in the UK he is unavoidably connected with his close friends the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. In 2020, after hearing they were trying to leave their temporary exile in Canada after “Megxit” and before the borders closed as a result of the pandemic, he offered them his house in Los Angeles, private jet and security team.
“I’d never met him before,” the duchess said in the couple’s 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan. “I was a wreck. I was just crying and crying. Sometimes it’s easier to open up to someone who knows nothing at all, and that was that moment with me and Tyler.” He is godfather to their three-year-old daughter, Lilibet. The duchess and Perry are clearly still great pals: she was photographed with him last week at the Paley Honors gala in LA, where Perry received a lifetime achievement award.
How did he prepare the couple for their move to America, I ask. “I didn’t,” he says, any conversational intimacy evaporating. “Meghan is from California. She knows California well. So there was nothing to prepare them for. But I will say this: what I learnt about mentioning them — because there’s this insatiable appetite to know all about them — is that any question that is asked becomes the headline of anything I say.” Why is the appetite so insatiable? “You’re from the UK, you tell me,” he says. The headlines are just as plentiful in America, I say. “You think? Well, you would know better than I would because I’m not paying attention to that world.” It’s clearly time to cut. Next scene.
Sadly, this is the only reason why the Times even bothered to interview him, although the rest of the piece is standard-issue celebrity profile. The paper just wanted him to say something, anything about Harry and Meghan, and of course these comments are being picked up across the British media. “Unknown Black director refuses to speak about Harry and Meghan!” “Black billionaire gets testy when asked about the Sussexes!” What the hell kind of question is “how did you prepare Harry & Meghan for the move to California?” As he says, Meghan is from LA, she was born there and lived there until her late 20s. Utterly bizarre.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Netflix, Backgrid & Cover Images.
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- Beverly Hills, CA – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends The Paley Center for Media hosts Paley Honors Fall Gala honoring Tyler Perry at Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, California. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 4 DECEMBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Celebrities arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘The Six Triple Eight’ held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 3, 2024 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States Featuring: Tyler Perry Where: Hollywood, California, United States When: 03 Dec 2024 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
I actually liked how he shut that line of questioning down. Basically it’s a weird British media thing & he put it all back on the interviewer. Because he’s much warmer with US media. Still shuts it down, but is warmer.
Yes, that was very skillful. A clear f-you to the interviewer without saying those exact words. Can’t wait to support him by seeing this new film.
God, I really fucking hate the British media. That’s all I’ve got.
Oh, have some sympathy. The British celebrity media are mostly comprised of the dreadfully middle class who couldn’t ever actually join the upper echelons so they report on them. How could they even conceive of the American concept of people born into the lower socioeconomic classes and facing the worst of systemic racism but still rising to the economic power and influence of Perry and Oprah?
But just to say I love hard news from British sources like the Guardian and social analysis from the likes of John Oliver and Sacha Baron Cohen. The Brits bring a lot of awesomeness. Just not their class obsessed wannabes.
Re: “hard news from British sources like the Guardian.” Sounds like you’ve never checked the taste or smell of the Sussex swill put out by Marina Hyde, Guardian columnist.
So Perry asks the interviewer, “you’re from the uk, you tell me” and the interviewer just evades his question. And then redirects to saying well there’s just as many headlines in the us? First of all, whew, that’s some bad faith journalism right there bc hmm are there just as many headlines in the us? Are there, really? Does the interviewer have actual evidence to support that claim bc I doubt it’s true. Sure they get headlines in the us but as many as in the uk tabloids?? I doubt it. I call bullshit.
“in the UK he is unavoidably connected with his close friends the Duke and Duchess of Sussex…”
I mean, he is here too (now, at least), but he’s not known ONLY for that, he’s very well known for a multitude of other things, and we don’t lose our gd minds about it. The UK media don’t see the difference, don’t want to see the difference, don’t care about the difference.
“Unavoidably connected”. Interesting choice of words.
Go Tyler! Put that dumb ass interviewer in their place. And “prepare them for living in California”, like they were moving to Pluto or something. Gmab please.
A piece like this reminds me how dreadfully racist the Brit press is. How much they viscerally dislike Americans.
How they really have no clue how THEY behave. I often wonder who their target audience is.
Fortunately I have a few friends spread across the UK who do behave like actual humans with hearts.
I love how the Times has to admit that there is huge interest in the Sussexes in the UK and US here. It’s obviously true given the amount of stories written about them but these people love to call the Sussexes irrelevant while simultaneously sending people across the ocean to harass their neighbors and baraging every American they interview with questions about Harry and Meghan. Tyler’s a real one but we already knew that.
I also liked his point about how anything he says about them becomes the headline….and the headline is all about the Sussexes. Way to prove his point there Times.
The Times came off as a parochial backwater paper with that interview. Not a great look.
Here’s the difference in the two countries’ MSM coverage of H&M…HERE…I GENERALLY only see coverage of them when they DO something …THERE …they act like stalkers 24/7/365 🤬
This was just disrespectful and very intrusive.
I’m not going to read the rest of the interview but its clear from this excerpt that the interviewer was hoping for SOMETHING more from tyler about the sussexes and was ticked that he shut down that line of questioning so much. Good for him.
And no, there are not as many headlines in the US as in the UK. The New York Times – for all its faults – its not going to title a Tyler Perry interview “the billionaire who lent Harry and Meghan his house.” It would be a part of the interview, maybe, but it wouldn’t be the HEADLINE.
The New York Times doesn’t run endless hit pieces on Meghan because she wore a red dress. The Washington Post doesn’t run endless hit pieces about a potential divorce. Even our tabloids – from the gentler People to something like Us Weekly or In Touch or whatever – don’t focus on the Sussexes. There are stories, yes, and sometimes when People or whatever gets an Archewell exclusive they feature that story on the cover……but it just feels different. I expect to see gossipy stories about royals and celebs on the cover of In Touch.
Some of the UK gossip gets a foothold in the US but for the most part, as we’ve said on here again and again, the things that the UK press criticizes them for aren’t things Americans care about. We expect celebrities to live in fancy houses and to wear designer clothes and to attend galas and to go to nice restaurants etc.
Exactly this 👆🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I lol at Tyler I didn’t. I imagine him saying it in Madea voice and looking at that so call journalist like b are you for real real ? These people just can’t help themselves. They racism is always on full display. The entire world knows who Tyler perry is . His movies are world wide hits so this heifer of a reporter could miss me with the Brit’s only know him for rescuing Harry and Meghan and let me further remind this bottom feeder that if her and the rest of her scum British media were not always attacking Meghan and Harry , and putting their lives in real danger then Tyler the angel on earth would not have had to save their lives . I hate the British media.
You’re all going to spam me here but he really ISN’T known that much in Britain for anything else. Like, some people will have heard of his films, but they don’t get major cinema releases here. Certainly not outside London. He is in no way comparable to a major global celebrity like Oprah (I agree that there is weirdness in how they talk about her too but your average person in the street definitely knows her). He’s more like some director who is really really famous in India (a massive market) but only known in the UK to Bollywood fans. If they interview him in a mainstream paper, they really do have to have the royal hook.
Anyway he’s very good at the polite non-answers!