Tyler Perry has been sued by a Georgia-based entertainment company for allegedly working unfairly with government officials while trying to transform a former military base into a movie studio.
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The entertainment mogul has been accused of attempting to “thwart the business opportunity” of Ubiquitous Entertainment Studios in a federal lawsuit, which also names the U.S. Department of Defense as a defendant, filed earlier this week. One of the causes of actions listed against those defendants is “intentional or negligent misrepresentation and fraud.”
The complaint says a UES rep met with a government official in 2011 and first proposed the idea of transforming Fort McPherson into a studio and entertainment complex, but then Perry stepped in and persuaded them to agree to his deal to provide similar “studio, sound stage, animation, school and education complexes” in the same 80-acre space.
It implies the McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority (MILRA) in fact took UES’s proposal, which was proprietary information to Perry and provided him with “site plans, construction plans, drawings and business plan owned by UES.”
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The lawsuit argues the defendants violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution, and UES is seeking compensatory damages from a jury.
Tyler Perry studios has declined TheWrap’s request for comment, while Perry’s personal representatives have not yet responded.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
For the record: A previous version of this story inverted the word defendant and plaintiffs. TheWrap regrets the error.