Tyler Perry poses with his “date” Gelila Bekele on the red carpet during his Grand Opening on Saturday. I’m told Gelila is on Tyler’s payroll, but I have no clue what she does.  Photo: Wireimage/Getty

People either love director/playwright Tyler Perry or they hate him. Take for example, these emails sent in by loyal readers nattygribb, Trapp Bryson of The Mic DVD, and Versfelt Porter III.

They have opposing opinions of Mr. Perry. Whether you love him or hate him, Mr. Perry has come a long way from his humble beginnings And he should be applauded for his contributions to the Atlanta television and film community.

Date: Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:31
From: nattygribb@aol.com
To: sandra@sandrarose.com
Subject: Tyler Perry

Just want to say that I’ve known for years that Tyler Perry was a monster. A red flag was when the House of Payne project started. Several established writers tried to get meetings to work on it, but were rejected. The word soon got out about who was meeting on the project. All assistants. It was pretty easy to figure out that he was going to be sticking it to them. Why else would you employee a group of inexperienced writers for a multi-million dollar project?

They won’t cause too much trouble because most are desperate to get their break (which is hard to come by as a Black writer in Hollywood.) I know one of the assistants that was immediately kicked off the project for wanting a lawyer to look at their contract before they signed it. Monster. As the project became a series, I was told the wages were not even a fraction of what they should be, but hey they should just be happy he’s letting them write for him.


Read more after the break…

What most of them didn’t figure out was writing on a non-union show doesn’t help all that much in getting you a job on a legitimate show. A legitimate show which will respect you enough to give you medical and dental for all the millions your work generates. Tyler Perry is a monster. It makes me sick to see Oprah and Obama. I truly hope they just don’t know who this man is or what he represents. Nuff said.

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Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2008 16:03
From: Trapp Bryson themicdvd@yahoo.com
To: sandra@sandrarose.com
Subject: Tyler Perry

Hi Ms. Sandra Rose, this is Travis aka Trapp Bryson with The MIC DVD. I’m writing you because of the Tyler Perry entry you posted on your site. First of all I worked with Mr. Perry and he pays more than the $75 amount you posted. I worked with him on The Tyler Perry Talk Show and as his stand in. Now you have to remember that he doesn’t have to give people a chance but this is one of his ways of giving back. He always treat you with the utmost respect unlike these other fake Hollywood dudes that’s running around in Atlanta.

I have a question for you, why do you always down the black man? If you want to talk shit about somebody then find someone else because Mr. Perry is putting young black brothas in the game. What I learned from Mr. Perry is priceless and I don’t think you understand that. How many people of Tyler Perry’s caliber is putting people on in Atlanta and not asking for Nothing in return? Get your facts straight and I have paycheck stubs to back up my statements. Besides, the economy is down right now, so if he was paying people a low price they knew before accepting the position. Leave the man alone. It’s so many other people you could be picking on rather than him.

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Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 22:08:22
From: porter_versfelt@vcgtv.com
To: sandra@sandrarose.com
Subject: Your web site comments about Tyler Perry – false information

Dear Sandra,

Your recent blog comment about Tyler Perry’s studio opening contains some very false information, particularly about his union relations.

You state that Mr. Perry has been “resisting” hiring union film workers. That cannot be MORE untrue! All of his film crews are members of the Hollywood movie technicians union IATSE. Just check the credits on each of his movies. His actors are all members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

You really should check your facts before posting such false accusations.

Sincerely,
Porter Versfelt III
DP & Exec. Producer

Atlanta Broadcast Productions
Versfelt Communications Group