Confessions

Tyler Perry's Traumatic Childhood

Filmmaker was physically, sexually abused.

A month before the release of his film about an abused and troubled teenager, Tyler Perry is opening up about his own tough upbringing. Perry, who executive produced Precious (based on the novel Push by Sapphire) with Oprah Winfrey, wrote an open email to his fans disclosing terrible memories of his childhood–an abusive father and sexual molestation at the hands of a neighbor when he was 10. He even feared his own grandmother, who thought his weekly allergy shot was a waste of money. "She came and got me out of the living room leaving my Matchbox cars on the floor. She said she was going to kill these germs on me once and for all. She gave me a bath in ammonia,” he recalled. Since then, 38-year-old Perry has gone on to produce Tyler Perry’s House of Payne on TV and a slew of films that have banked over $400 million at the box office. “Forgiveness has been my weapon of choice,” he closed. “It has helped to free me.”