Billionaire filmmaker, Tyler Perry has revealed why he decided to cut off financial support for some of his extended family members, including firing a close relative who repeatedly failed to show up for work.
Speaking on the YouTube show Den of Kings with Kirk Franklin, the 55-year-old entertainment mogul said he gave his aunt a job to help her become self-sufficient, but she kept missing work, assuming their family connection would shield her from consequences.
“She would always call asking for money. I would send her the money,” Perry explained. “But I told her, ‘Listen, I want to help you – I want to help you build this thing, not be welfare to you – so let me give you a job.’”
Eventually, he said, he had no choice but to let her go.
“Well, you gotta go, because you want me to hand you the money, but you don't want to work for it,” he recalled telling her.
Perry, who Forbes estimates is worth $1.4 billion, added that he’s raising his 10-year-old son Aman with the same values.
“I don't believe in giving us things that are just going to handicap us – that is the worst thing you can do,” he said.
He makes Aman complete chores before receiving an allowance and recalled a time when his son complained about flying commercial.
To teach him humility, Perry and Aman’s mother, Ethiopian model Gelila Bekele, decided their son would start flying coach.
Following the death of his mother Maxine in 2009, Perry said he informed several family members she had asked him to support that they had 60 days to find a job before he would end his financial help.
“And it wasn't even, like, jobs where they made a lot of money, but it was a job. It was something else for them to do, feel some pride in,” he said. “That's the same thing I would want someone to do for me.”
Perry, the creator and full owner of the Madea film franchise, has made more than $660 million through the series and other ventures.
Despite his wealth, he said he is committed to ensuring his son understands the value of work.
“He's not gonna be one of those ridiculously spoiled rich kids. I can't stand that – he ain't got no money.”
