Tyler Perry rebukes criticism of not having writers room: 'I don't give that energy'

Tyler Perry isn't interested in paying attention to the critics.

The billionaire media mogul and filmmaker is pushing back against those who have questioned his lack of a writers room. The writer, director and producer is often the sole writer on hundreds of episodes of TV projects such as "Sistas," "Beauty in Black" and "The Oval," as well as movies including the "Madea" franchise.

"I don't take in the criticism," Perry tells USA TODAY while discussing his latest film, "The Six Triple Eight" (streaming now on Netflix).

"Because if people understood why there was no writers or if they understood what I had to deal with, if they understood what I had to endure, the racism that brought me to the place where I didn't have a writers room," Perry, 55, says. "It was a racist moment with the WGA (the Writers Guild of America, a Hollywood union) that brought me to that place, that I had to fight my way through, that made me stand in my own strength to be able to write all of those shows.

USA TODAY has reached out to the WGA for comment.

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"So if people really understood the backstory of a lot of things, I don't think there would be as much criticism as there would be an understanding. But because I'm a person who doesn't go around sharing everything or talking about everything that I've experienced or dealt with, it leaves room for much speculation."

Perry says he wants "to make sure that what I'm doing is inspiring and motivating and lifting people and encouraging people."

He repeated a sentiment he shared during his Icon Award honor at the recent Critics Choice Association's 7th annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television: "People shoot at the deer that they can see."

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"People start saying, 'Oh, you're an icon, you're an icon,' then there's always these targets that are put on your back, and nobody wants to be a target," Perry says. "I certainly don't enjoy being a target, but being in the seat that I'm in, being a person that has means (and) being in this celebrity business, of course I'm a target."

It's "not something that I enjoy," he adds, but "you know, you roll with it and do what you need to do."

Perry, who famously doesn't read reviews, won't buck the trend with his new Netflix World War II movie.

He remembers two critics who sat in the same row at one of his early plays. "This is when I stopped reading reviews," he says. "They both saw the same show. One thought the show was amazing, the best thing that ever happened. The other thought it was horrible and awful. And so, no, I don't, I don't give that energy or time."

'When she died, everything in me died': Tyler Perry's immeasurable love for his mom

Perry is looking forward to giving his energy to healing this holiday season.

He still grieves the loss of his beloved mother in December 2009, a heartbreak compounded by the death of Tyler Perry Studios president Steve Mensch in a plane crash earlier this month, just one day before the anniversary of Maxine Perry's death.

"I'm just trying to get to the end of the press tour so that I can get along and check in with myself," Perry says. "So as soon as this is done, I'll lean into making sure I'm OK and seeing how I feel. And I think that's important for anyone to do, and be honest with yourself. I don't lie to God, and I don't lie to myself."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tyler Perry fires back at criticism for lacking a writers room