In the entertainment industry, a celebrity hasn’t achieved success until there are rumours about their usage of drugs, death, or sexual orientation. Tyler Perry is a producer, director, and actor. Ever since he made the leap from stage to cinema, there have been speculations about the latter. But other members of the media mogul’s cast have also been impacted by the rumours, which have spread to them. Tyler Lepley of The Haves and the Have Nots recently discussed how gay allegations about him and Tyler Perry first surfaced.
In an interview with the podcast Angela Yee’s Lip Service, Tyler Lepley discussed his life, profession, and everything in between. Since getting his big break on Tyler Perry’s nightly series The Haves and the Have Nots, his star has been rising. As soon as the show debuted in 2013, the actor had to contend with persistent accusations that he was dating Perry. Lepley addressed the podcast’s sexuality rumours.
I recall seeing something here and there when I first started out. People were connecting it with my first concert for whatever reason.
Lepley went into greater detail about how the rumours emerged from the nightly drama and even discussed how they have impacted his most recent creative endeavours.
I came out on a Tyler Perry programme, and for some reason, he receives a bad rap. Tyler [Perry] is not gay, at least not that I am aware of. When I was around him, people started to think that “he’s rubbing off on me” and assumed that I was gay or something similar. I was on the P-Valley set, possibly with [character Uncle] Clifford, and I believe I was shooting a photo with Alphonse, who portrays Lil Murda, when the rumours started to circulate once more. I believe that if you have a space that is difficult for people to understand, they will simply label you and pass judgement on you.
However, not all of Lepley’s experiences have been bad; he still plays the lead character in The Have and The Have Nots, which is presently running its eighth season. He most recently played Diamond in the popular Starz stripper drama P-Valley, for which he garnered raving reviews and rose to fame on social media.
P-Valley Season 1 is available on Starz, but for a list of more shows premiering in the coming weeks, see our guide to the winter/spring of 2021.
