Tyler Perry ‘Pissed’ and ‘Insulted’ over Spike Lee Criticism

Filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry appeared on “60 Minutes” Sunday night and responded to charges from Director Spike Lee that his movies and television shows were reminiscent of Amos ‘n’ Andy.

"You know, that pisses me off," he said.  "It really does.  Because it's so insulting. It's attitudes like that that make Hollywood think that these people do not exist and that's why there's no material speaking to them.  I would love to read that to my fan base."

Lee made the comments in May, during an interview with Ed Gordon at the 14th Annual Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference when asked about stereotypical depictions in media today.

“Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery,” he said.  “I know it’s [Tyler Perry’s Medea Movies] making a lot of money and breaking records, but we can do better.”

“I am a huge basketball fan, and when I watch the games on TNT, I see these two ads for these two shows [Tyler Perry’s "Meet the Browns" and "House of Payne"] and I am scratching my head. … We got a black president and we going back to Mantan Moreland and Sleep ‘n’ Eat?”

Perry told interviewer Bryan Pitts that all his character were bait and allowed him to touch on a range of issues important to his audience.

"All these characters are bait - disarming, charming, make you laugh bait,” he said.  “I can slap Madea on something and talk about God, love, faith, forgiveness, family, any of those."

Perry’s eight films have earned $418 Million according to CBS.