LA Times: Turner tries to smooth things over with Tyler Perry over ‘Boondocks’ parody
Although Tyler Perry has not said a word publicly, insiders are saying he was might upset by the “Boondocks” parody of him that aired June 20 on Turner Entertainment’s Adult Swim network. Making it more awkward: he works closely with TBS on “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns.”
Aaron McGruder, the creator of the “Boondocks,” created a thinly disguised Perry-like character named Winston Jerome (apparently, the original name was too close to Perry so execs insisted he change it.) In the episode, Jerome, who dresses up like Madea in his plays, used religion to cover up the fact he is gay.
The Los Angeles Times, using unnamed sources, got some inside scoop on Perry’s reaction:
Soon after the episode aired, Perry got in touch with executives at Turner including entertainment chief Steve Koonin and Phil Kent, the chief executive of Turner Broadcasting. Perry complained loudly about the episode and even threatened to rethink his relationship with the company, people familiar with the situation said. A spokesman for Perry declined to comment.
Ken Sunshine, a Perry spokesman, declined to me, too.
Tim DeClaire, a spokemsan for Adult Swim, declined comment as well about whether the network plans to air that “Boondocks” again.
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210 comments Add your comment
django
July 1st, 2010
5:50 pm
BTW…advanced degrees mean nothing..coonery is coonery..everything that Ive seen from Tyler Perry has been embarrasing to me as a black man..if feeds derogatory images and concepts about ppl of color…
Thomas Pain
July 1st, 2010
6:03 pm
Tyler Perry takes himself way too seriously. Like the fact that the title of everything he does starts with “Tyler Perry, The Crappy Sequel to the First Crappy Movie”.
Clearly thinks he’s above parody.
Mommyof3
July 1st, 2010
6:18 pm
No one watches Tyler Perry’s coon-tastic television shows anyways. He’d be doing Turner a huge favor if he took his talentless television shows off the air. McGruder boldly revealed to the masses what many of us discuss in our social circles – Tyler Perry is in touch with his feminine side. One can only wonder why he’s SO upset. I mean, he’s the one parading around imitating a woman. If the stiletto fits, Mr. Perry. As for McGruder, did anyone see last week’s episode? That dude has some issues with homosexuality.
Gimme a Break!!!!
July 1st, 2010
6:21 pm
Get a Grip people! Look at Family Guy, it makes fun of EVERYONE, why can’t the Boondocks do the same? It’s comedy for Christ’s Sake!!!!! Nobody really likes several of these millionaires behind close doors, we the (public) love seeing several of these movie/musicians stars get made fun of day in and day out….it makes us feel a little better about our overworked, underpaid jobs (lives)!!!!!!!!
Miss Atl
July 1st, 2010
7:30 pm
Whatever Tyler Perry is not gay and anyone who says so is jealous because he or she can’t get with him. He is a nice, respectable man. His mother raised him right. And plus the Boondocks is the dumbest show ever. I have never liked the way blacks are pictured in that cartoon. Anyways, it is true many people have been made fun of on that stupid show and none of those were funny either! Personally, its the principle not the point. I provide good wholesome shows on this network and you allow such trash to be aired. Its about business and that’s bad business for Turner!!!!!!!
richard
July 1st, 2010
7:51 pm
Waiting for Tyler Perry to say he’s gay will not happen, we are still waiting for Queen Latifah to openly admit it, anyway who cares what they are, they need to be honest to their fans, after all the fans are the ones who made them who they are.
As Long As Gays Have Only Gay Lovers
July 1st, 2010
7:57 pm
I don’t care if he is gay or not, but he has always given me that impression just by looking at him he has that facial expression that usually gives gay guys away. As long as gay guys stick with gay guys, I could care less. My concern are the D.L. brothers that play both sides of the fence. That’s nasty and sickening. YUK!! I have heard that Tyler Perry demands that his staff call him Mr. Perry, so be it. Happy 4th everyone, be safe and enjoy.
Lamekisa Shonte
July 1st, 2010
8:35 pm
If Mr. Tyler Peery is a gay he need to repent to God. God can heel him of his deamons and he can live as straite man to. Mr. Peery is a jenius and one of the gratest dirctors in the movie indstry today. He so much more talnted then any one else in hollywod and he shoud not be gay.
Tj
July 1st, 2010
9:24 pm
Lamekisa Shonte …… everyone knows you are a white racist (most likely gay), trying to make someone believe you are black…..See ya @ Blakes you f@ggot!
Eric
July 1st, 2010
9:27 pm
Richard………
Waiting for Tyler Perry to say he’s gay will not happen, we are still waiting for Queen Latifah to openly admit it, anyway who cares what they are, they need to be honest to their fans, after all the fans are the ones who made them who they are.
Tyler Perry doesn’t owe his fans anything but gratitude for supporting his art. I’m a fan and I could care less what he is. So if you aren’t a fan than why should you care?
Nana
July 1st, 2010
9:34 pm
Lamekisa Shonte, you are someone of another race pretending to be an African American. You are a royal idiot! You post on these vents using a different made-up name each time. Get a life and a brain.
Mr. Cracker
July 1st, 2010
9:40 pm
Aaron McGruder is a genius. Tyler Perry is a hack.
Mr. Cracker
July 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
@Eric You COULD care less? Really? OK, let’s see it.
Michelle
July 1st, 2010
9:41 pm
For the idiot that tried to bring MJ in this mess…smh MJ is not gay nor a child molester…learn your facts b4 you try and hate on someone…but yet the real child molesters that are actors,directors, entertainers,etc…that have been caught with their pants at the ankles- messing with minors…no one ever talks about…now why is that? As far as TP being straight or gay…it doesn’t matter if he, Oprah,Gail or Stedman…and etc come out the closet…non of these people give a da*n about regular folks….all they want is your money…once you realize that, the rest of this crap will fade away….
Sally
July 1st, 2010
9:58 pm
What does Tyler Perry’s sexuality have to do with anything. It’s HIS business and noone else’s unless you are laying up with him. Tyler Perry has put a lot of black actors and actresses to work, so I admire and respect the man. McGruder hasn’t done anything but put on a mediocre show.
Mark
July 1st, 2010
10:23 pm
Not a week goes by that we don’t have to be subjected to another Tyler Perry article. Boring.
Bertha
July 1st, 2010
10:25 pm
Just because someone gives you “work”, means little, it she be gainfully employed, or a prosperous business. The real issue that should be addressed by Tyler Perry is OBESITY. The people that I have seen on his shows look as if they ate a fourth of the world! Those Browns are the classic clinical pictures of fatal heart attacks and strokes. Now, is that really funny?
Glitz
July 2nd, 2010
8:08 am
http://www.houseofglitz@yahoo.com
Shango
July 2nd, 2010
10:43 am
Tyler, Girl…its 2010 you can be gay and successful. Gay Black Men are your second largest support group next to Single Black Women. Just go on Oprah for an hour…both drinking a glass of Barefoot Moscato and with some cold Fried chicken and a piece of red velvet cake…and talk about about really why you can’t get married! thats what we do on a saturday night!
Big Jim
July 2nd, 2010
10:46 am
Do you pro-perry supporters have jobs? Perhaps, you guys
should understand that you have bills to pay,children to support.
If Tyler Perry(insert anycelebrity) isn’t helping you with this,
why the hell are you guys protesting the “haters”? Why can
Perry convey any idea of Blacks that “he” sees fit,any
opinion,any left-field concept “he” chooses. No one else
can do this,or else we’re haters or racists(black people
can be racists too).
Thankfully,this is last post on this idol who is playing with
the minds of the weak,gullible and desperate! Remember folks,
if you ain’t paying my bills, I’m not arguing for you!!!
I’ll be doing something this weekend TP won’t, spending time
with MY children.
GET A LIFE!!!
July 2nd, 2010
11:10 am
So because Tyler dresses like a woman in his plays and movies, it makes him gay??? What about the guys who played in Brokeback Mountain??? What’s the difference!!!! People really need to chill out!!
wesleywhatwhat
July 2nd, 2010
11:57 am
methinks the lady doth protest too much.
are we supposed to believe that tyler perry ISN’T gay now?
lol @ the ladies defending him
July 2nd, 2010
1:17 pm
he’s gay, gay, gay, and you know it!!!
if you like his movies so be it, but one of ya’ll said ” that has nothing to do with who he is as a person” wtf that has everything to do with who he is , you should have kept that one to yourself, silly person being blind to the sign that reads ” I’m gay and I’m more in touch with most women than women” lol, I beat when he called the head honcho’s his hand was firmly placed on his hip, waving his pinky,lol.
louise norton
July 2nd, 2010
1:26 pm
HEY FOLKS….WAKE UP….YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO BUT TRASH MR TYLER PERRY?
AMERICANS HAVE LOST IT…SARAH PISSLAN IS RUNNING AROUND THE COUNTRY SPREADING HATE AND CONFUSION…AND YOU ARE WORRY ABOUT TYLER PERRY….IF YOU DO NOT LIKE MR PERRY, SO WHAT….AS WE YOU READ THIS, HE IS ON HIS WAY TO THE BANK….SMILE. COME ON FOLKS, GET TO VOTING.
WEEZY
Ron Mexico
July 2nd, 2010
2:04 pm
Is that kid who smokes “real cigerettes” gonna sue now too? Of course that kid probably can’t even spell so guess there would be no point. Probably in jail too.
Ron Mexico
July 2nd, 2010
2:08 pm
And that dude is gay, come on now. No big deal, get over it and move on with your day.
Neil
July 2nd, 2010
2:14 pm
He and Gangstalicious got a thang going on……lol
gkingii
July 2nd, 2010
2:43 pm
Boondocks has a geat deal more value, socially, creatively, and in timeliness and accuracy of message than Tyler Perry. It’s lots funnier and has a much sharper wit. I think “touche’” covers it.
jay
July 2nd, 2010
3:06 pm
@Sally,
TP hasnt put ALOT of black actors to work. He recycles the same set of actors between his stage plays, films and TV shows from what I see.
Pause...NO HOMO
July 2nd, 2010
3:08 pm
Do I think Tyler is Gay? Maybe.Is he super feminine?Hells Yes…The bottom line is that the stigma that comes along with being a (Male)closet Homosexual far outweighs that of an openly Gay person,especially when 70%(estimate) of your income comes from the “jesus holly rollers”. I think above all else Tyler is more concerned about how his money stacks,at the end of the day.
Perhaps, Tyler needs to look in the mirror,I am sure there are “Madea’s” out there that don’t like being stereotyped as gun toting,fist wielding, over weight,highly aggressive,uneducated,law breaking,ghetto ass old ladies either,but too bad they dont have Kent’s # over @Turner.*sigh*
The Boondocks is a good show.It gives balance to this whole damn debauchery we call entertainment .
Stinkmeaner
July 2nd, 2010
3:08 pm
W_O_W, For the record, I don’t care if Tyler Perry is gay, not an issue in the least. What is the issue is that I hate his tv shows, and was only mildly moved at less than 30 percent of his silverscreen abortions. No doubt Ive found myself flippin through the channels and hit a TBS episode of House of Pain or Meet the Browns, and to this day can’t find one character that I identify with as a black male. However I am a HUGE fan of the BOONDOCKS! Every show has made me laugh, most all of them have made me think, (further than just a public service announcement- don’t smoke crack, practice safe sex, etc)lol The BDKs is and over the top satire people, all the way to brass tacks of animation, does anyone see the reasoning of the “Anime” style NOW? Everything in the show is excessive. Essentially TP and AM do the same thing don’t they.Could the tv watching community take a live action version of the boondocks, say starring Lil JJ and Bobby J. Thompson? F**k no! Why? Because its easier to accept these jokes from a cartoon meant to push the envelope. The images that we portray as people are the fuel for their artistic inspiration. Were any rappers up in arms the last two seasons during the Gangstalicious fiasco? And Im quite positive that show hit home to some people. Fall back folks, AM has been doin this stuff for years in the comic, his comedy is edgy and fun without losing a lot of substance. However TP is a recycle artist with no REAL variation in his works. That crap should have never left the theater the FIRST TIME! Do any black people see themselves this way?
As far as the sexual orientation of anyone goes, peep this… Riley is a character that finds almost everything and everyone “gay” but in the G-licious finale, ironically found himself to be “The Gay” I don’t know AM is homophobic or a closet homosexual himself, all Im saying is if we parallel characters behavior to the writers that create them we could say this same thing about a lot of people couldn’t we. But in the end that kind of logic is weak, and wholly inaccurate.
Bottom line: Everyone gets exploited and we are all subject to ridicule by someone…you’ll heal Tyler Perry, you just need more scar tissue.
BOONDOCKS FOREVER!
blackgunowners.org
July 2nd, 2010
3:13 pm
If you think Boondocks is funny now, wait till Dave Chappelle gets back on tv. Then Aaron will have more material for his show. I thought the “Madea” episode was funny, and I’m glad it wasn’t predictable like the others.
Pause...NO HOMO
July 2nd, 2010
3:22 pm
@Stinkmeaner
I agree with your views on the Boondocks! I am a fan myself …I think AM writing and spin is Genius to say the least. Riley character displays the ignorance we as just plain ole’ people have inherited over generations of mis-education and the result of years of suppression. While Huey’s character knows better and tries to do better,thus THE MESSAGE!!!!!! If Riley says some out the way shhh,its because we all were thinking it,and he is the only one with the guts to say it…Can’t understand what the problem is with that?
ATL Jay
July 2nd, 2010
3:38 pm
It seems like most of the people commenting here are really stupid. This is not a freedom of speech issue. And why would someone take time out to make the comment “no one cares” or “these shows suck anyway?” It seems like more of an indication of the lifestyle of the commenter. Obviously angry and unemployed. Seriously, get some exercise. Being unemployable is no excuse to be such a laxy fartwit, posting inane crap all day.
Die Hard fan of comedy
July 2nd, 2010
3:47 pm
Wow! it aint that serious… be like Jay-Z, Mr. Perry and be on to the next – when you reply you obvious show a display of weakness. Boondocks just open a can of whup behind on u!
lol it is comedy…. and beside which network will give u what Turner/TBS is giving you? U going to fall victim to the crab in a barrel theory!
Empowered black woman in very large crazy stupd hat bobbing my head back and forth
July 2nd, 2010
4:01 pm
OH NO HE DIT ENT!!!
Nick
July 2nd, 2010
5:04 pm
Boondocks is some foolishness anyway!! and has never been funny!!!
Matt the Brave
July 2nd, 2010
5:18 pm
I know as an artist you don’t want to see yourself made fun of, but Perry needs to realize that not everyone in the black community likes the Madea character. It’s a stereotype that isn’t uplifting.
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
July 2nd, 2010
6:47 pm
This saga
is
far more entertaining
than anything
either Tyler Perry
or Aaron Macgruder
has ever produced. I love it!
Fred
July 2nd, 2010
7:49 pm
As the late great Arsenio Hall said, “It’s a black thing. I don’t get it.”
Boondocks is stupid, (at least the cartoon was the few times I read it, never saw the show) and anything Tyler Perry has done is stupid. It’s not geared to me and I don’t blindly support his stupid crap because I’m black. Oh wait, I’m NOT black.
Didn’t Tyler Perry cheat some contractor or something out of cash because he, Tyler Perry, is so big and important now? We see “how he rolls.”
Just a classless piece of dung. Apparently the Boondock author thinks so too. I may have to pay more attention to this person. He obviously has intelligence and my first impression was wrong.
dean
July 2nd, 2010
8:49 pm
it is his business if he is or is not gay. the problem is that many people think that it is up to them and that the way they see the world is the way it should be. this man pulled his self up from being homeless to be a rich and i mean rich man. now the haters are mad because they do not have what he has.tony curtis,milton berle, flip wilson,martin and many more . jamie foxx played wanda on in living color, the hatred and racism in this country is so bad i can only hope it will change.if tyler isn’t saying anything about this then why is it a problem. 1 gays who want well known people to get political power often claim people. 2 others who have thier own problems want to put people below them so they csn feel better
april
July 2nd, 2010
9:43 pm
Personlly to me it doesn’t matter weather he is gay or not the problem i have with Tyler Perry is that while his movies and plays are entertaining and teach strong values and belief, they are overcasted by sterotypes, ingorance and fundementals of outlandish behavior which potraits African-Americans in a negative light. Which isn’t good for African American culture .
Why is he so mad
July 2nd, 2010
11:01 pm
I saw the episode and it was funny as hell. I don’t and can see why this man is so bitter. It is obvious that Tyler Perry is gay and flamboyant. The Boondocks show is one of the most creative shows that I have ever seen. I will boycott Turner if they even try to cancel this show.
Truman's Mom
July 3rd, 2010
12:53 pm
Tyler Perry’s movies are just not funny. Black people go to see them in droves simply because there is a black cast. The characters are either stereotypes or so thinly written a soap opera wouldn’t feature them. How he made his money is a mystery to me. And as for being gay, who cares?
VM
July 3rd, 2010
9:18 pm
Tyler Perry needs to get over it!!!!
Mike
July 3rd, 2010
9:19 pm
He must be gay..why does it bother him so much!!!!
Spiked Lee
July 3rd, 2010
10:01 pm
Told ya’ll.
Vince
July 3rd, 2010
10:22 pm
Mel Gibson for President!
KD
July 4th, 2010
2:14 am
Don’t know if Tyler Perry is gay, or not. I could care less. I do know that he’s an entertainer and a great humanitarian. Should anything else matter?
Trae
July 4th, 2010
2:20 am
Adult Swim is one of the few “independent” publicly accessible sources of satire in our country right now, with the exception perhaps of the Comedy Central threesome (Southpark, Stewart, Colbert).
Atlanta should be very proud to be associated with that threesome. And all of us should defend it vehemently. Comedy is the only truth we have right now.