Tyler Perry is letting the numbers clap back at movie critics who dogged him out for exploiting Black women’s pain following the unprecedented success of “Divorce in the Black.”
But his friend, Loni Love is setting the record straight regarding false reports about her claiming that he only works with C-list and below actors.
The film starring divorcees Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict premiered on Amazon’s Prime streaming platform on July 11. And like the rest of his catalog of creations, it was written, produced, and directed by Perry himself.
Now, a month after viewers tuned in to see the story of a couple, Ava and Dallas, unfold with twists of murders, stalking, and beatdowns, an exclusive report has revealed that the project was a far bigger hit than critics could have imagined.
“Nielsen reported that it hit more than 498 million minutes watched in its first four days of availability,” according to Variety. The movie landed in the No. 3 spot on Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming chart and reached roughly 3.5 million views.
Moreover, interest in “Divorce in the Black,” has “driven more sign-ups to Prime Video in the U.S. than any Amazon MGM Studios-produced movie to-date,” Variety reports Amazon has claimed, although the magazine did not cite a direct statement by the streaming and online retail giant. Amazon did not disclose the number of subscribers they gained thanks to the Tyler Perry Studios proprietor, the Variety report added.
The billionaire entertainment mogul shared a message about the Variety report in an Instagram post comprised of excerpts about the accomplishment on Aug. 12. In the caption, he wrote, “Thank you everybody. Nothing more to say!”
Perry’s fans, on the other hand, have plenty to add to the conversation.
One person said that he was “laughing all the way to the bank” off of the success. Another follower wrote, “This why he keep telling yall to go to hell when yall criticize him.” While a third individual commented, “In other words… don’t play with me, play with yo mama!”
Perry’s not-so-subtle nudge at detractors is a stark contrast to the one he issued weeks earlier. When he appeared on the “Baby, This is Keke Palmer” podcast, he gave an unbridled response to people who criticized his work as being redundant and lacking depth in his storytelling abilities.
“If you let somebody talk you out of a place that God has put you in, you are going to find yourself in hell,” he told Palmer about not acknowledging the outside noise.
Among his critics was Rotten Tomatoes, who gave Perry’s film a 0 rating. One person said, “I know Rotten Tomatoes speechless now b/c numbers don’t lie…..the movie was good af.”
Another was comedian and former “The Real” co-host Loni Love who shared that while he pays Black actors their worth, she wished he would “hire Black writers and directors” that have experience to help him with his movies.
In a post on X, she suggested, “He could improve the movies & make them award worthy if he would stop trying to save money by doing the writing and direction himself.”
I love that Tyler is paying Black actors now I wish he would hire Black writers and directors that have experience to help him with his movies… He could improve the movies & make them award worthy if he would stop trying to save money by doing the writing and directing himself. https://t.co/HExhpNMAqe
— Loni Love (@LoniLove) July 15, 2024
Love’s name came up in the comment of “The Neighborhood Talk” post highlighting Perry’s Prime victory. “Dang Loni just locked yah self out,” read one comment. Another stated, “That’s why he not worried what Loni or anyone got to say, he knows what works for HIM!”
She faced more criticism after a blog site shared a post on Instagram claiming, “Loni Love: “You’ll never see greats like a Denzel, Halle, Morgan or Will in a Tyler Perry film.”
On Aug. 14, Love made it clear that she never made that statement to the public or anyone for that matter.
“Someone just sent me a blog saying that I said certain actors that would not be in Tyler Perry’s movies. I have never said that,” she said in an Instagram video. “I am not in a feud with Tyler Perry.”
“I have no problems with Tyler Perry. I have no problems with the fact of how he runs his movies,” she continued. “I just made a simple suggestion of maybe hiring some more black creatives. But what we’re not gonna do with you bloggers is you’re not going to start putting words in my mouth and getting me in trouble.”
Love added, “You guys will not do this. Tyler is my friend. He knows how I am and that’s it and I won’t say anything else.
An even harsher criticism that implied that working with the “Alex Cross” star was a career downgrade read, “Tyler Perry has a unique way of turning our icons into C list celebrities and ion like dat.”
He’s created dozens of films starring the likes of Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou, Taraji P. Henson, Lynn Whitfield, Blair Underwood, Louis Gossett Jr., Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Tiffany Haddish and more.
But Perry has a history of being unswayed by what a hater has to say about his work that is raking in billions.
In 2020, he told Variety, “When I hear that kind of stuff, I’m thinking, ‘Are y’all looking at the ratings? Do you understand that the audience is in love with this?’ Because if you’re complaining about my writing, you’re not the audience. My audience loves the way that it’s done and the way the stories are told.”
The now-54-year-old said his background and upbringing prepared him to not be swayed or moved by the opinions of others.
“I grew up with a man who criticized me and said all kinds of horrible things to me every day of my life. And if that 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-year-old, beautiful kid can endure that and find a way, what kind of man would I be to be hurt or bothered by some other criticism?” Perry said about the man who raised him. He didn’t learn that Emmit Perry wasn’t his biological father until he reached his 30s.
Last year, in November, while promoting his documentary “Maxine’s Baby,” he again hit back at the persistent scrutiny.
“When I get to those hoity toity negroes who don’t understand, looking their noses down at everything…I marvel at them at how intelligent they are but how they miss the most simple things,” Perry said on “CBS Mornings.” “I marvel at any Black person who wants to remove themselves from their Blackness. …Those people, I don’t have respect for.”
Regardless of what critics have to say about his filmography, Perry is making bank and not letting up on as he delivers more Prime content as part of his four-picture deal with Amazon.
