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In Ebony’s Wealth issue, Tyler Perry opens up about the three major events in his life that have changed him forever. First, in September on 2009 he turned 40. Secondly, he lost his mother Willie Maxine Perry to cancer. And finally, his emotional appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in December 2010 where he shared with an audience full of other men that had been abused, details of his sexual and mental abuse by his father.

Tyler’s definition of wealth:

“I’ve always been wealthy because I had a tremendous amount of love from my mother. She didn’t have much, but she gave me Jesus.”

Tyler on waiting until his mother’s death to talk the abuse:

“When my mother took her last breath, I was able to take my first because I would not be a source of pain for her as long as she was alive,” he said. I didn’t know how liberating it would be to sit in the pain of the moment, feel it, allow myself to squeeze it as hard as I could then let it go”.

Tyler on why he is no long upset at Spike Lee and has ended beef:

“Because I saw his children and forgot that the man has kids,” he said. “I’m gonna be more respectful of him and his family”. “I believe Spike can do what he does and I can do what I do. We both have a voice and very different experiences in life. There’s room for more than one of us in every industry, and the moment we embrace that as a society, we can get past all this stuff”.

Tyler on almost becoming a father:

“Back in December” he began “when we thought we were having a kid, I got overwhelmed. “We” (the interviewer asked) Is there a woman in your life? “Yeah” he responded–smiling yet no elaborating. He says, “she is really, really special. It’s the longest relationship I’ve been in, largely because I don’t feel any kind of marry-me-now pressure from her”.

Source: KarenVaughn.com