Skip to content
  • Essence GU
  • Beautycon
  • NaturallyCurly
  • Afropunk
  • Essence Studios
  • Soko Mrkt
  • Ese Funds
  • Refinery29
  • 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
  • Celebrity
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Lifestyle
  • Entrepreneurship
  • News
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
  • Subscribe
Home • News

Tyler Perry Writes an Open Letter to Penn State Alleged Victim

Tyler Perry writes an open letter to an alleged Penn State victim.
Tyler Perry Pens Letter to Penn State Victim
Tyler Perry 4
By Derrick Bryson Taylor · Updated October 28, 2020
As the Penn State sex abuse scandal continues to heat up, Tyler Perry is trying his best to comfort victims gaining courage to speak out.

In an open letter to an unnamed former 11-year-old who spoke out against Jerry Sandusky, Perry calls him “courageous.” Above all, he makes sure the victim understands that he is not a victim, but a survivor, because Perry also suffered sexual abuse at a young age.

According to Newsweek, he writes, “I was a very poor young black boy in New Orleans, just a face without a name, swimming in a sea of poverty trying to survive. Forget about living, I was just trying to exist. I was enduring a lot of the same things that you’ve come forward and said happened to you, and it was awful. I felt so powerless.”

He went on to say, “So to think that you, when you were only 11-years-old, spoke up — you are my hero! I’m so proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I want you to know you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. Please know that you were chosen by a monster. You didn’t choose him. You didn’t ask for it and, most of all, you didn’t deserve it. What a huge lesson that was for me to learn.”

Kudos to Perry for standing up against sexual abuse. He’s been a huge voice in the movement since he revealed his rocky past on Oprah.

Continue to pray for the Penn State victims.