Tyler Perry talks success and keeping his son out of spotlight
The actor and billionaire mogul shares a son with ex-wife, Gelila Bekele.
Tyler Perry is opening up about his success and how he keeps his 7-year-old son out of the spotlight.
In the August/September edition of AARP The Magazine, Perry shared a glimpse into his personal life and why it's important for him to keep certain things private.
"My son's not famous. I want him to have as normal a life as he can," Perry said. "I want him to know what it's like to have his own name and his own life and not have the pressure of trying to live up to whatever or whoever your father was."
"I want him to know what it's like to have his own name and his own life and not have the pressure of trying to live up to whatever or whoever your father was," he added.
For all his fame both as an actor and a self-made billionaire mogul, Perry is notoriously protective about his private life. He shares his son, Aman, with ex Gelila Bekele, who he describes as an "incredible mother." Though the couple split in 2020, Bekele runs his charity, The Perry Foundation.
Perry also talked about how he's handling current events as a Black father, explaining he hasn't delved too deeply into matters of race -- yet.
"I want to hold out as long as I can," Perry said. "I don't want to tell him that there are people who will judge him because of the color of his skin, because right now he's in a school with every race, and all these kids are in their purest form. When he describes his friends, he never defines them by race."
"The moment he loses that innocence is going to be a very, very sad day for me," he said. "I know it's coming, though, because he's already asking some really tough questions. What I want him to be, more than anything, is somebody who sees injustice, speaks out against it and effects change."
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