Tyler Perry isn’t in the business of giving out free money — even to his own family.
The 55-year-old filmmaker and billionaire opened up during the June 20 episode of the Den of Kings podcast, revealing that he once fired his aunt after she repeatedly failed to show up for work.
“She kept asking me for money, and I’d send it,” Perry recalled. “So I said, ‘Let me give you a job. I want to help you build something, not just be your welfare.’” But she stopped showing up and often didn’t call in. “I said, ‘OK, well, you got to go. You want me to hand you money, but you don’t want to work — that doesn’t work for me.’”
Perry, who shares a 10-year-old son, Aman, with ex-partner Gelila Bekele, says he’s applying the same principles at home.
“If there’s something he wants, he has to work for it — do chores,” Perry explained. “Giving too much can handicap people. That’s the worst thing you can do.”
He admitted that, while his mother was alive, he would financially support family members at her request. But after her passing in 2009, he drew a firm line.
“I sent everyone letters saying, ‘You’ve got 60 days to get gainfully employed. I’m not going to keep supporting you like this,’” he said. “And they all got jobs. Not big-paying jobs, but jobs — something to feel pride in. That’s what I’d want for myself too.”
Despite his success — Forbes estimates Perry’s net worth at $1.4 billion — his refusal to hand out money has caused tension within his family.
“I had a family member get mad because I wouldn’t give them a million dollars,” he revealed.
Perry’s fortune is entirely self-made. He owns 100% of the content he’s created, including his lucrative Madea franchise, which has grossed over $660 million.
“Everything I have, I worked for,” he said — and he expects those around him to do the same.
