Tyler Perry has a bone to pick with hifalutin “educated Negroes” who criticize his portrayal of Black men and women in his movies.
In 2009, director Spike Lee called out the “coonery buffoonery” in Perry’s movies and he insisted that “we can do better” than Perry’s brand of entertainment.
Perry dismissed “intelligent Negroes” like Spike Lee in a sit-down interview with “CBS Mornings” where he promoted his upcoming Prime Video documentary “Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story.”
“When I get to those ‘hoity toity’ Negroes who don’t understand [and are] looking down their noses at everything… I marvel at them at how intelligent they are but how they miss the most simple things.”
Perry continued:
“I marvel at any Black person who wants to remove themselves from their Blackness. There’s this instant thing of ‘let me get away from where I come from, let me get away from the Madeas of my family, and let me educate myself away from my Blackness. Those people I don’t have respect for.”
Perry famously fired his writing staff for unionizing. He was further criticized for writing his own scripts for his TV shows.
He bristled at the accusation that he’s not receptive to criticism — particularly from Black intellectuals.
“If they have an opinion, great. You’re educated; you get it and I hear you, but I can’t respect what you’re saying because you don’t understand what this is and what this means to us. Every person’s story matters.”
Watch the interview below.
