Tyler Perry is fighting his sexual assault accuser, Mario Rodriguez, in court over his private texts … TMZ has learned.
According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Tyler says he turned over private texts with associates to Mario as part of their legal battle. The director said he wanted those messages to remain confidential, like they previously agreed.
He said the messages should be private because some of the convos talk about financial matters.
Tyler says he and the associates he was texting believed their conversations were private … and Mario has no right to release them. He says his associates have nothing to do with the case at hand and disclosure of their texts would cause unnecessary annoyance and embarrassment.
Mario has yet to respond to the issue in his own court docs.
As TMZ first reported, Mario sued Tyler for $77 million over an alleged sexual assault. He said he met the director in 2015 at the gym … which led to him getting a role in Tyler’s film, “Boo! A Madea Halloween.”
In his lawsuit, Mario claimed Tyler assaulted him when he went to visit him at his home in 2018. Mario claims Tyler asked him if he liked oral sex and then grabbed his junk. He said Tyler gave him $5k and apologized.
The suit alleged Tyler also forced his hand on Mario’s penis during another hangout … which led to another alleged $5k payment.
Tyler and his company denied all allegations of wrongdoing in the case. He claimed Mario kept talking to him after the alleged incidents occurred… and only turned on him when he stopped providing him with financial assistance.
As TMZ first reported, Tyler previously fought Mario in court over whether he has to answer questions about his sexuality at his deposition.

On Wednesday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” host Jimmy Fallon gave his best Nathan Fielder impression while guest Jamie Lee Curtis played Elizabeth Holmes to spoof A24’s buzzy documentary, “You Can See Everything.”
“Now, be honest. Do you really want to be on the show tonight?” asks Fallon, doing his best Fielder impression. “Of course I do. I love talking to you,” responded Curtis with her best Holmes-like voice while donning a blonde wig and looking deeply into the late-night host’s eyes. “So, you’re not just here to promote your new show. ‘Newlyweds’?” “No, I’m engaging with you as a human being,” said Curtis. “Why would I deceive you? There’s no reason for me to do that. There’s nothing for me to deceive you on.”
“Good chat,” concluded Fallon, but not before one last question: “You’re being real right now?” “I’m always being real,” responded Curtis. As Fallon leaves, she yells, “Thank God! Fuck, what an asshole!”
As mentioned in the cold open, Curtis was on the show to promote “Newlyweds,” her new NBC sitcom that premiered on Oct. 23. The logline for the show, starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, describes it as “a later-in-life love story about a free-spirited woman and a buttoned-up professor who marry impetuously after a whirlwind courtship.”
Curtis will appear on the show in a recurring guest star role, and also co-created it with Gail Lerner, who was fired from the show earlier this month for “creative differences.” In Lerner’s statement when the news broke, she described the experience working on the show as “the most joyous TV experience of my life.”
“You Can See Everything,” which debuted in theaters earlier this month on Oct. 16, has been a hit both critically and at the box office, where it’s already grossed $45.1 million domestically to date. Fielder and co-director Lance Oppenheim quietly worked on the movie for more than three years, which offers an unhinged look at the Theranos founder a month before she began an 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors.
Watch the full cold open here.

Crystal Hefner is firing back after Jon Lovitz mocked her for calling him the Playboy Mansion’s “No. 1 customer.”
“I think Jon Lovitz is part of the problem,” the widow of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and “After the Mansion” podcast host exclusively told Page Six.
“I think many men who came up to that mansion [and] were very sexist and misogynistic are all part of that problem.”
“If I could dismantle that toxic masculinity and patriarchy just a little bit, I will feel happy,” she added. “It’s very sad.”
The 40-year-old former Playmate also took issue with Lovitz suggesting that the late magazine mogul’s financial generosity should make her less critical of him.
“Jon Lovitz had mentioned to me that Hef had bought something for me or paid for something and that I have no reason to speak because of that,” she said. “I think his thinking is very outdated.”
“That’s really sad that, just because someone buys you something, it guarantees silence,” she continued.
Hefner’s comments come after Lovitz, 69, responded to her calling him one of Hollywood’s “biggest pervs” and the Playboy Mansion’s “No. 1 customer.”
“Any time someone says I’m No. 1, it’s a compliment,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum said in a video obtained by Page Six that was filmed Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
He also defended the late Playboy founder, who died in 2017 at 91, saying, “Hugh Hefner was one of the nicest, most generous people I’ve ever met and all of his friends know it.”
“That’s all I have to say about that,” he added.
Crystal isn’t backing down from her criticism of some of the men who frequented the notorious Los Angeles estate.
“There were really horrific, horrible men that came through the mansion,” she told Page Six, alleging she has video evidence of people sexually assaulting her friends.
She also named Bill Cosby and President Donald Trump among the company her late husband surrounded himself with, describing them as “like-minded men.”
Hefner said she wants people to understand how power dynamics can affect women in relationships and why speaking out about past experiences matters.
“Coercive control in a relationship is so real and it can throw you,” she said.
“We also need people to know how powerful this man was when he was alive, that the media wanted this man in their pocket and so they didn’t really put out anything negative about Hef.”
Hefner’s comments follow other recent critiques she has leveled against her late husband, including horrific sex acts involving rape and incest.
“I’m not afraid anymore,” she told Page Six.
“There were people that lived with me that were hurt, and I just think it’s not okay, and it’s a bad example to set for humanity moving forward.”

Officials in South Carolina announced Wednesday that an investigation found Hayden Panettiere’s Aug. 16 death to be accidental and the case is now closed.
“Based on the Medical Examiner’s determination and the findings of the investigation, Hayden Panettiere’s death has been ruled accidental,” officials in Greenville, S.C., said.
Paramedics and police found Panettiere in cardiac arrest, according to the coroner’s office. Dispatch audio recordings from Broadcastify.com reference a possible overdose and CPR in progress. Narcan was reportedly administered, and paramedics tried to resuscitate her. She was declared dead at 2:31 p.m.
Federal authorities probing the death of Panettiere are focusing their investigation in Los Angeles and looking into whether the actor procured nonprescription pills from an area dealer.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local investigators have questioned several people about the circumstances of her death.
Such counterfeit pills have repeatedly been found laced with fentanyl, which can be deadly when taken in small amounts.
Panettiere starred on “Nashville” (2012-18) and, before that, “Heroes” (2006-10). Her early work as a child actor included roles in the 1990s on the soap operas “One Life to Live” and “Guiding Light.” She was a model and a singer, having released several singles.
Panettiere also starred in the “Scream” horror movie franchise as well as in hits “I Love You, Beth Cooper” and “Remember the Titans.”
She gained widespread attention with “Heroes,” in which she played a cheerleader with superpowers.

“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” has officially premiered, and members of the film press are already calling the sixth installment a “perfect adaptation” that breathes “new life” into the franchise. “Sunrise on the Reaping” is the second “Hunger Games” prequel movie following 2023’s “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”
Film critic Griffin Schiller hailed the movie as the “Rogue One” and “Andor” of “The Hunger Games” franchise, adding: “It’s [a] sobering, yet powerful story of devastating loss and the necessary cost of rebellion for a sunrise we may never see. As a massive fan of the series and especially this book, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect adaptation.”
Filmhounds Magazine editor-in-chief and Tomatometer critic Gavin Spoors praised the film’s third act as “stellar,” writing that it “pulls the rug out underneath you.” “Anchored by terrific performances (Zada is a star), this emotional thriller nails the themes of the cost of revolution and how we all need to play our part,” he wrote on X.
Matt Neglia, Next Best Picture editor-in-chief, wrote that the film “features some of the best casting of the year” in his review. “Many of the actors breathe new life into familiar characters, making them their own, while preserving the qualities that made them so compelling in the first place,” he continued. “Glenn Close, with her horror-inducing face, is a scene-stealer as is Jesse Plemons embodying the spirit of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman. Joseph Zada is beyond impressive in a highly demanding role that pushes him to the limit physically and emotionally, perfectly capturing the essence of Haymitch with all the sympathy, charm and bitterness Woody Harrelson brought to the role. I’m continually blown away by how Francis Lawrence continues to find more layers in this familiar structure thematically and stylistically as the production and costume design continue to be dazzling highlights. If this is to be the end of his time working on these movies, it’s a good way to go out as this latest installment brings the franchise full circle with the character that’s always been the beating heart at its center.”
“The rebellion is sparking with SUNRISE ON THE REAPING,” wrote fellow Next Best Picture editor Lauren LaMagna. “Francis Lawrence continues to breathe new life into this world. The unique production design doesn’t let familiar beats get too dull. Joseph Zada is heartbreakingly radiant as Haymitch. A star is born role.”
“One of the biggest highlights? Joseph Zada,” wrote Collider’s Perri Nemiroff. “I had high hopes for him after watching We Were Liars, but he had my jaw on the floor time and time again during Sunrise on the Reaping. His ability to capture Haymitch’s warmth and charm and then weave that into the rage and heartbreak the Hunger Games sparks is superb. SO much of this movie is on his shoulders, and he soars tackling every ounce of it. This is only the beginning for Zada.”
She continued: “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes bolstered my rewatches of the original films, and I have no doubt the same will be true of Sunrise on the Reaping. Sparking real change can take time and demand great sacrifice. This film franchise is better off for having added Haymitch’s.”
Static Media writer Nina Starner also championed Zada’s casting, saying that it “couldn’t be better.” “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is a worthy addition to the franchise,” she wrote. “It looks and feels terrifyingly real, and it bridges the gap perfectly between the original stories and Ballad. A from me.”
Based on Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel “Sunrise on the Reaping,” the latest “Hunger Games” movie centers on a young Haymitch (Zada, taking over the role from Woody Harrelson) as he fights to survive while competing in the 50th Hunger Games. The cast also features Jesse Plemons as Plutarch, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Maya Hawke as Wiress and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee. New characters in the film franchise are played by the likes of Mckenna Grace, Glenn Close and Whitney Peak, among others.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” takes place 24 years before the start of the first “Hunger Games” movie. Frances Lawrence, who has directed every “Hunger Games” movie except for the first installment (that was Gary Ross), returns to helm the latest prequel movie.
Much of the buzz surrounding “Sunrise on the Reaping” has been related to the franchise returns of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Harrelson as Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch. Book readers know that Suzanne Collins’ novel ends with a flash-forward epilogue featuring the trio, so it appears the film adaptation is following suit.
“It was unbelievable,” Lawrence said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast about reprising Katniss. “It was so crazy. It was the same crew. It was the same AD, who I’ve worked with a million times because I love him. And with Josh [Hutcherson] and Woody [Harrelson] … it was so emotional. Josh and I didn’t walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other. It was so beautiful.”
“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is set to open in theaters Nov. 20 from Lionsgate. Check out first reactions to the movie below.