In his legal response, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Feb. 27, to accuser Mario Rodriguez's Dec. 26 lawsuit, Perry's legal team declared the "Madea" franchise creator "vehemently denies" Rodriguez's "frivolous" claims of being subjected to unwanted sexual advances after playing a role in 2016's "Boo! A Madea Halloween."

"After being cast in a very minor role in a single Perry film a decade ago, [Rodriguez] repeatedly turned to Perry as his personal piggy bank," Perry's filing states. "When Plaintiff's repeated requests for more financial assistance were met with silence, angry at the loss of his golden goose, Plaintiff spun a false tale that the two had a nonconsensual relationship, twisting the true reason for the payments to ignite a media firestorm, all to fuel his final money grab and thrust him into the spotlight."

Perry's attorneys characterize Rodriguez's visits to the director's home from 2016 to 2019 as part of "a feigned friendship" in which "Rodriguez repeatedly preyed on Perry's generosity."

In his lawsuit, which alleged sexual assault and battery, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress, Rodriguez alleged Perry continued inviting the actor to his home under the guise of offering him roles, only to sexually assault him.

"Unfortunately, Perry uses his power allows to abuse and sexually assault people who hope to secure roles in his movies," Rodriguez's lawsuit stated.

USA TODAY has reached out to Rodriguez's attorney for comment.

In tandem with the Feb. 27 response, Perry's team also filed a notice of removal to the California federal court, alleging the state court was not the proper venue to litigate Rodriguez's claims because, in part, Perry's primary residence is in Georgia.

Perry is also concurrently navigating a lawsuit from "The Oval" actor Derek Dixon, who has the same attorney as Rodriguez and sued Perry in June for alleged quid pro quo sexual harassment, work environment harassment, sexual assault and battery and retaliation.

In December, a judge ordered that Dixon's civil case in California federal court be removed to Georgia federal court.

In response to that lawsuit, Perry's attorney Matthew Boyd said in a statement to USA TODAY that "This is an individual who got close to Tyler Perry for what now appears to be nothing more than setting up a scam. But Tyler will not be shaken down and we are confident these fabricated claims of harassment will fail."