As one executive told me. Harvey tyler proved everyone wrong. He now runs an empire so big it even impresses oprah. The own deal is about to expire. Was it difficult to break from oprah . Tyler perry, the man who beat impossible odds with faith, perseverance, and a little luck. Hey, man. Tyler. How you doing . It is so good seeing you. Thank you so much for doing this. Are you kidding me . Absolutely, man. For you . By the way. Yeah. This house is amazing. Amazing. Thank you, thank you. Harvey can we get started . Lets do it. Tyler yeah, lets do it. I want to learn about your life through objects youve chosen to keep. Whats that . This is my original birth certificate. I still to this day dont know my actual birthdate. I thought it wait a minute. You crossed it out. Tyler my mother says its the 14th, but the birth certificate says its the 13th, so i just celebrate both days. I notice something else. Can we sit . Yeah, yeah. It says your name is emmitt. Yeah, yeah. Harvey did you change your name . Tyler i did. Emmitt is emmitt perry, sr. , my mothers husband, and the man i thought was my father for 40 years was a man who was, at the time, quite abusive. And every time id hear his name in the house, it was synonymous with pain. My mother screaming, emmitt, stop emmitt, dont emmitt, emmitt, emmitt. So i didnt want to carry that name. Harvey when did you change it . Tyler i was about 16 years old and somebody asked me what my name was, and i said tyler. I dont know where it came from. Harvey just the air. Tyler just the air, yeah. So i said tyler, and it stuck. Everything ive read was just a hellish childhood. Mmhmm. He made your life hell. Beat you badly. Mmhmm. He had this distinct disdain for me. And i think he knows im not his child. I think hes always known that. And that was the disdain. I think so, i think so. So what he blamed on her, he took out on you. Absolutely. And once i got more information about who he was, what he had been through, i couldnt excuse it, but i could forgive it because it was too painful for me to hold on to anymore. And to this day, i still take care of him. He lives very well, and gets a check every month, and hes taken care of. Did he ever say, im sorry . I dont think so. I dont think so. If he has, it may have been in the heat of something and i dont remember it. But thats okay. But thats okay. What is important to me is that hes given to me now, we dont have much of a relationship, but im giving to him more than he was able to give to me. You also suffered sexual abuse from four people. How do you cope with beating, sexual abuse, bullying . I mean, its too much for a kid. Thats the thing that my mother gave me. She didnt have millions of dollars. She didnt have some great legacy. She wasnt a highly educated woman, but she taught me about faith. Every sunday she would take me to church to the ability to go and pray and believe that things would get better. I wouldnt have been able to make it, number one, without my faith, but secondly, i was given a gift in all of this that i still have today that i didnt know was a gift. And some people, when this happens to them, they cant come back from it. But im able to disassociate. When things were happening, i could leave myself, in my head, literally leave myself and be somewhere in a Perfect Place running in the grass. Which is really interesting because it gave you an imagination by necessity. Right. Which may have helped you later in life in your career. Absolutely. Thats what i mean, all things working together for the good. And i wanted to use my childhood to let each and everybody know that no matter you can be born into a whole lot of a nightmare, but you can god can usher you into a dream. And so, god bless you, and thank you so much for this. I really appreciate it. So you said you prayed a lot. What did you pray for . Hmm. His death, which is horrible to say, but i prayed for that as a kid, just being so angry about it. I prayed for my mother to leave him, to be stronger, to be okay. Those are the things that i prayed for then, not knowing, but, you know, those are the prayers of an angry child. God didnt answer your prayers. Thank god, yeah. Thank god. What were your dreams in the middle of all of this . What were you dreaming for yourself . I always had flashes of a light saying, youre going to be okay. Youre going to be okay. When id hear all the horrible things in this ear, there was always in this ear what i believed to be the voice of god saying, youre gonna be okay. Everythings gonna be okay. Harvey your mom was kind of a hero with you, wasnt she . Tyler oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Harvey in the throes of being beaten herself. Tyler yeah. Yeah. Harvey watching you get beaten. Tyler and trying to protect me, throwing herself in front of me trying to protect me, just the amount of love she gave. She is my hero and always will be. This is the very first ticket to my first play in 1993. 92 . Tyler this actually is 1993. So this is at the 14th street playhouse in atlanta. First ticket from the play, 12. This is when i thought all those people would show up. 30 people came. I knew everybody. Aww. And you put a lot of money in it. Yeah. Lost well, yeah, for me, who didnt have any money, yeah. Yeah. So, you dropped out of high school. Mmhmm. And then you decide that you are going to write plays. Thats an audacious thing for a poor, abused dropout. How did you kind of muster the confidence to do Something Like that . You know what . It didnt happen that way for me. It was it was when i left school, i started writing letters to myself, you know, about things that i had been through. I was writing all these letters. And if somebody had found it, cause they were all written longhand, i didnt want them to know i had been through those things, so i was using a different characters name. And a friend of mine found em, he goes, man, this is a really good play. I thought, hmm, maybe thats what it is. So i started trying to go see plays, but i had no money, so i would sneak into the Saenger Theater at all of these shows that were coming to town. But i would wait until intermission when everybody would come out to smoke, so i was only seeing the second half of the shows. And people tell me today thats why my writing is the way that it is cause i only know how to write the second the back end. The back end of it, yeah. But, um, but i moved to atlanta. Went to work as a used car salesman and bill collector. You know, doing whatever i had to do to be able to get the money to do to put the play up. And that was your goal . That was my goal, yeah. So youre writing about these personal experiences, these horrible experiences, and its dark. Why did you think that would connect with audiences . Well, there was it was dark, but it was also a lot of humor in it. I know youre going to be coming to work cause youre looking so handsome today. Dont be uh, unuh, dont be flirting with me, young thing. I jump over there and knock something off of ya. I aint lying. Your body would be going one way and your wig would be going the other. You better ask somebody. The success did not come quickly. For five years, you were a failure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, when i look back now, being older, i realized it was all learning and proving and and getting me into the right place to be able to handle what im dealing with now. So over five years you were on the ropes. You didnt give up. No. No. Why . There was something in me that i knew for sure this was what i was supposed to do. And nothing could deter me. Not even my mother. She said to me one day, she said, stop doing it. Just go get a job with the phone Company Making about 3 or 400 a week, get some benefits. Youll be fine for the rest of your life. This is, you know, that was her idea of success. But there was something in me that knew that there was something further. And thats what thats what i had to follow. Oprah helped you persevere, didnt she . Tyler mmhmm. Watching her show, absolutely. Yeah. Well, shes the reason i started writing, which is so insane that we would end up being friends and working together because there i am, this kid, watching her say its cathartic to write things down. Harvey personal experiences. Tyler personal experiences. Thats how it all started, because of her advice. Harvey all of a sudden, your plays became a cash register. I mean, you were making millions and millions of dollars. So you go from this 66 guy sleeping in a geo metro to making millions of dollars. Geo metro convertible twoseater. Pretty tight. Yeah. Harvey yeah. And so for five years, you were on the ropes. You were sleeping in your car. How do you handle that . cause thats a big life change. Big life change, and im, you know, in my 30s, early 30s. So just trying to understand that was extremely difficult. Trying to navigate through it, trying to understand taxes and businessand things to do. I had no reference for all of it. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. Girl, id be in jail for attempted murder, aggravated assault, gunshot wound to the chest, conspiracy to commit murder all right, madea, thats enough. Harvey i can do bad all by myself, that was the second show. The second show, and wasnt that when you unveiled madea . Yeah, yeah. I got this gun at the bowling alley. It aint got no serial number on it or nothing. All you gotta do is pimp up on em and do like this. Harvey so, why that character . Why did you do a dirty, 70yearold, pistolpacking, secular woman. Eddie murphy had done the klumps. Harvey right. Tyler and i was blown away by it. I was like, i want to try my hand at a female character. So im like, okay, lets see what i got here. And who are the funniest people i know . My mother and my aunt. The first night i did it, man, i was scared to death. I go out on stage and she had a cane. She didnt move. She stayed in one place and just. And i got up to walk across to the kitchen and the audience lost it. They were laughing. Im like, what the hell is going on . I look back and this big ass is behind me and theyre laughing at that. I was like, okay, theres something here. So i started to relax into it a little more, and they endeared to it. It is thinkable to do a play without madea . I would think there would be a riot. I dont know, im getting to an age where its like, okay well, heres the thing. Youre getting to an age where its going to be madeaappropriate. Right. Thats exactly what it is. I am determined to not be her age playing her. Yeah, yeah. Spike lee, so he called some of your movies coonery and buffoonery. Howd you receive that . In the beginning, i was really hurt by it and frustrated by it because i didnt understand, you know, where it was coming from or what it meant. Because i didnt understand, you know, where it was coming from when you think of a bank, you think of people in a place. But when you have the chase mobile app, your bank can be virtually any place. So, when you get a check. You can deposit it from here. And you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. You can save for an emergency from here. Or pay bills from here. So when someone asks you, wheres your bank . You can tell them heres my bank. Or heres my bank. Or, heres my bank. Because if you download and use the chase mobile app, your bank is virtually any place. Visit chase. Com mobile. People at higher risk, must take extra precautions. 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But now, theres the Dell Technologies cloud, powered by vmware. A single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. That should clear things up. And you say as long as im here no one can hurt you dont wanna lie here but you can learn to yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Harvey i love this room. Tyler thank you. Harvey i love this room. Its all about movies. Whats your favorite poster . Its gotta be this one. Sidney poitier, raisin in the sun. And i have a photo of him sitting in that chair beneath that picture. And he didnt realize it. He didnt realize it was there. I asked him to turn around and look at it and just the joy on his face. This room also is a tribute to all of these people, you know. Cicely tyson, and you see sidney up there with bill cosby and eartha kitt, and dorothy dandridge, paul robeson. Just people that suffered greatly in this industry just to pave the way. So how can i know have a place where i take a moment to say, you know, thank you . Why did you go into the movies . You were an incredibly successful playwright. Tyler yeah. Harvey why . Tyler too many not enough seats in the theaters. I was selling them out. I was exhausted. I was doing 350 or 60 shows a year. It was crazy. It was just like, i dont know how long i can keep this up, so whats another way for me to tell stories where i dont have to be there . And so i thought film was the next thing to do, the next evolution. So you go to hollywood, you talk to film executives who say it aint gonna work. Mm, yeah. Black people go to church, dont go to movies, as one executive told me. Its been really fun to prove him wrong. Harvey so if you could choose the megachurch that you were that you went to or you could choose Usc Film School as your training, which one do you go for if you had one or the other . It would totally be the church. It would totally be all of new orleans. New orleans is the perfect to grow up there was amazing. Perfect, even in all the hell, it was the perfect backdrop for all kinds of storytelling. Everything was represented from one end of bourbon street to the other. And you used the voice of the church in your movies, especially at the beginning, right . Mmhmm. And that, you knew, was going to connect with who . With people in the church or beyond the church or what . I just thought it would connect with everybody cause i thought i was telling universal stories. I thought i was making everybody laugh. Peace be still. Thats what they said. Peace be still. Well, you know what . Peace is always still around me cause i keeps me what they call a piece of steel. As long as you got a piece of steel, youre gonna have peace along with your steel. Thank you, jesus. My greatest motivation was if i could help you walk through some things that ive been through, and i can do it in this way, then im all in. Huh . You think im crazy . Wheres your medication . slap grunts muffled grunting you have taken a lot of risks in your life. You put down 3 million of your own money. You say, its my way or the highway in terms of my movie. You try and sell a play when youve never done anything like this before. And you live in a car and you struggle for five years. You are a major risktaker. Do you think of yourself that way . cause i sure do . I hadnt thought about it until you said it. cause for me, it just feels like i just always believed in betting on myself. Thats what it i just im gonna put my money on me because i know me. Im gonna do all i can to make it work. Im gonna go all out and im gonna just be in it 150 , so if that makes me a risktaker, then i guess so. Spike lee, so he called some of your movies coonery and buffoonery. Howd you receive that . In the beginning, i was really hurt by it and frustrated by it because i didnt understand, you know, what it where it was coming from or what it meant. I think he was talking about the Television Shows at the time, though. Heres what i do about criticism. Its like, you know, when youre eating a steak, you eat the meat and leave the bone, so i try to find truth. If theres truth, im okay with it. Was there any . No, i dont think so. Because hes you know, if you look at spike, growing up in new york and his parents, you know, being welleducated and though his world, it was very different from my southern upbringing and the people i was around. I tell stories about the people i was around. If you look at the people that i know, that i grew up with, youll see them represented in everything that i do. So whats more important . Artistic or commercial success to you . I think theyre both important because one allows for the other, so i think sometimes you can have commercial without artistic. Yeah, but and viceversa. But i wouldnt want to have tremendous artistic success and not have commercial success because of the limitations in that. If you are able to have both, then youre in a really good seat. Damn. Girl, that breath smell like its been in the civil war. Harvey so madea returns in boo2 this month. Mmhmm, yeah. Boo2 yeah. Yeah. The first one was something i never would have done. Im not a big halloween person, but lionsgate was like, yeah, lets do it. Lets do it. Im like, okay. You want to do another one, tyler . I was like, all right. Lets see what happens. So, yeah, im just having fun. Do you worry that, you know, what brought you to where you are today, which is connecting to the megachurch, connecting to the pain you had, suddenly thats gone and you have this luxurious life. Do you worry about losing touch . No, no. Thats why i still go out on the road. I still go out on the road to be with the audience. Harvey and come back here. Tyler yeah, but also i have a trunk full of experiences. Trunks and trunks. Harvey and you dont forget it. Tyler cannot forget it. Cannot forget it. So people do. Which i find tremendously sad. cause some people just want to get away from it. I get that, but if im not connected to it, then im losing touch with all that i am. So you have to keep pain in your life or in your memory in order to stay who you are. Not necessarily the pain, but the experiences. All of the experiences, every bit of it. To keep all of the experiences there so that you stay connected and stay grounded. This could all be gone tomorrow. As you said, im a risktaker. Yeah, could all be gone tomorrow. Youre buying that now . Yeah, im buying it. Ill take it, ill take it. Growing up in the bible belt, faith and god were so very, very important. Yet there was one point things got so bad, that you attempted suicide. You cut your wrists. Did you give up on god at that point . Lets be honest. Quitting smoking is hard. Like, quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So try making it smaller, and youll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette. Starting small can lead to something big. Yoall this grass. All this mulch. All these projects to do. You need a tractor that can do it all right. You need the 1 selling subcompact tractor in the u. S. The versatile kubota bx series. That Liberty Mutual customizes your insurance, i just love hitting the open road and telling people so you only pay for what you need [squawks] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. But maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr, a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; dont start xeljanz if you have an infection. Taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. As have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. Tell your doctor if youve been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if youve had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Needles. Fine for some. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. This was my mothers bible. Is this particularly special . Absolutely. How come . Because it was always in the house. She always had it open. Whatever mood she was in, whatever was going on, this was always close. Do you read from it . I have not read from this because this is really, really painful for me. Painful . Why . Well, because shes not here anymore. Before she passed, there were a couple of things that i wanted, and this was one. Did you always believe in god . Always, all my life. When you suffered horrible abuse as a kid, how important was god in getting you through that . Oh, tremendously. I mean, you have to understand coming from our culture, being brought to the country as slaves, being taught about christianity and this bible, and me growing up in the bible belt, faith and god were so very, very important. Yet there was one point things got so bad, that you attempted suicide. You cut your wrists. Did you give up on god at that point . I was i i vaguely remember not wanting to go to hell because i was told theres so many things that are taught in the church. Some most are right. A lot of them are wrong or misconstrued. But i remember just not if i could just die here, god. If he would just let me die, and be out of this, and i can come to heaven and be with you this, again, the thoughts of a child. Yeah, it was there were really, really dark times. Did you ever wonder at a point when the beatings went on week after week, month after month, year after year, that god may not help you, god may not save you . No. I never doubted. I never doubted because there was always a flash of light somewhere. What i mean by that, there was always something that said, youre gonna be okay. I had to do a lot of work myself. I just wasnt sitting around saying, god, get me out of this. God, let me not hate. God, let me i had to do the work myself. Does god communicate with you . Mmhmm. How . You gonna make me sound like a medium . Is that what no stammers no, no, no, no, its what im really interested to know. This is what it mean. In my prayers, in my if im praying for something or if im trying to to get clarity on something, i sit and i pray and i meditate and i clear out all of the noise. And i just sit and i hear, and usually what i hear will line up with what i feel if its the right decision. Do you think you would be successful without your faith . No. I think i would be strung out on some sort of drug. This is the thing. I look at i feel sorry for people who dont give their kids thats why im so grateful for my mother to give me faith if they dont give them something to help them cope with life, because life is going to happen. And if you dont have a coping mechanism for your struggles or your pains, you will turn to something. I thank god for me, that its faith. I come praying for each and every person in this circle, each and every heart, god, from the youngest to the oldest, that you will protect us all and put us on one accord to go out here and do Something Special for you. For a lot of other people, it is not that, and it ends up pretty tragically. Hold your peace and let the lord fight your battle. Hold your peace and let the lord fight hold your piece. laughter and let the lord fight your battle. Madea. laughing you go from god to the devil. Harvey oh, no, i dont. No, im staying on track. Tyler okay, go ahead. Lets talk about madea. Harvey madea, in my view, is a very secular woman. Mmhmm, yes. And in some ways, antireligious. Yes. You know, as i think about the goodness of jesus, and all that he has done for me, my soul cries out, hallelujah. Thank god for saving me. You finished . chuckles what tyler perry does is uses madea to be that conduit with the laughter and the jokes to open the dialogue about abuse sexual abuse, forgiveness, moving on, and all those kinda things. Madea, hold the baby for me, please. laughter hold the baby head girl, this a crack baby head. Cant nothing hurt. Now get in the house. She dont even cry. Its a crack baby. Oh madea she all right. She aint even cry. I think this character is the counterpoint to religion. And madea wins a lot of arguments with religious people. She her view prevails, and shes secular. I tell you, i learned a long time ago that god could take care of folks far better than you can. God take too long sometimes. I need them to get got right then. It just feels to me like theres, you know, a side to you that, you know, has some doubt i have no doubt about my faith and what i believe, no doubt at all. Yes, i wanted her to be as irreverent as she wants to be. I dont think its a side of me, but i, you know, i have no doubt about my faith. But, you know, im not an angel. Harvey talk to me about your new book. You really do have faith as a cornerstone of your life, and kind of have a blueprint on how people get through adversity. Wow, uh, wow, blueprint, wow. I dont i dont if its necessarily blueprint. What i did and what i try to do in the book is use my own situations, my own life, my own stories, my own pains, and talk about how i was able to get past it or talk about how i view life. You feel the need to spread that . If somebody reads it, and it gets them motivated or lifted or higher, then ive brought some good to the world. That makes me feel great. So whyd you have a kid at 45 years old . You tell me, man. I was just as surprised as everybody else. Oh, it was not yeah, completely surprised. In these uncertain times, look after yourself, your family, your friends. But know when it comes to your finances, we are here for you. What can i do for you today . Well take a look at the portfolio and make adjustments. Im free to chat if you have any more questions. Our j. P. Morgan advisors are working from home to help guide you through this. For more than 200 years, weve helped our clients navigate historic challenges. And we will get through this one. Together. Tums ver bell rings la stick when heartburn hits fight back fast. With tums chewy bites. Beat heartburn fast tums chewy bites thats why working together ist more important than ever. At t is committed to keeping you connected. So you can keep your patients cared for. Your customers served. Your students inspired. And your employees closer than ever. Our network is resilient. Our people are strong. Our job is to keep your business connected. Its what weve always done. Its what well always do. Well, actually. Were from a lot of places. You see were from here and there and here. Your familys story is waiting to be shared. At ancestry. 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Tell your doctor about bleeding new or unexpected shortness of breath any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. If you recently had a heart attack, ask your doctor if brilinta is right for you. My heart is worth brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. And i like to question your im yoevery move. N law. Like this left turn. Its the next one. You always drive this slow . How did you make someone i love . That must be why youre always so late. I do not speed. And thats saving me cash with drivewise. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady . [tina] youre an old lady. Im gonna play brad pitt. Okay. Whats in the box . Thats your brad pitt . Yeah, sorry. Whats in the box . What movie is that . Benjamin button . Se7en. Thats your brad pitt, huh . Okay, whats in the box . Okay, brad. This is, uh, my sons books. This is a gift from oprah when he was, uh when he was born. Which book did oprah give him . All of them. All of them. They all say amans book club. Oh, my god. And the great thing about this is because he actually, hes almost three. He absolutely loves to read. But, you know, he wants me to read all of them. Right now, its paw patrol, so i have to read paw patrol. I make him choose. I say, okay, we get three books tonight. He says, okay. So after ive read all three books, then he says, okay, read it again. No, it doesnt mean you get three for me to read over and over and over again. Well, he knows how to play people. Good. Hes a smart kid, yeah, smart kid. You, um, are adamant on not putting this kid on social media. No. Not putting pictures out, which a lot of people do. Why . I see some of the horrible things that they do to people, man. They do some horrible bleep to these kids. Those trolls on social media and how they judge them and how they talk about them and say horrible things about them, and as parents, gelila and i are very protective of trying to give him a moment to know his self, understand who he is, and grow up. So why did you have a kid at 45 years old . You tell me, man. I was just as surprised and everybody else was. Oh, it was not yeah, completely surprised. Completely surprised it was like, uh, okay, what do i do with this . Because i didnt think i would have any kids, but its incredible, man. I didnt even know that what i was missing. Its been lifechanging seeing myself, you know . Seeing myself in him. And the timing was so perfect because after the loss of my mother, there was an emptiness, and then here comes, you know, this beautiful circle of life. Here comes this incredible child that is. Yeah, hes hes incredible. So how has aman changed your life . Hes my healer because hes hes healing so many wounds in me that when i see him, i think, you know im every day reminded of how innocent and how precious and how amazing and beautiful he is. And it makes me look at the little boy that i was differently. Because now i know that the little boy i was, there wasnt anything wrong with him. He was just as special, just as beautiful, just as perfect as my child is. Do you overcompensate just because of the experiences that you had . I try not to because very important to me that he not be a spoiled, snotnosed kid, man. Its very important to me that he has some sense of balance and that hes grounded. How do you do that when you live opulently . Heres the great thing about this is gelila and i are people who are very similar, but very opposite. I have to force her to fly firstclass, i kid you not, which will help him greatly to understand the balance. Well, what, help him that hes flying economy plus . Help hi chuckles as opposed to being on his fathers jet. Itll help him greatly to understand that the life we have is a privilege. Its not something that he necessarily is going to access just because. In some ways, you became successful because of the adversity that you went through. Because it taught you things. Yeah. Hes not gonna experience any of that. Yeah. You worried that might affect his success . I do in one sense, but on the other sense, i think that if we try our best to raise a responsible human being, that that has just enough disappointment in his life that he can he can overcome and understand and really get it, or just be able to learn from my lessons and experiences, then then i think weve done a good job. This kid has pretty incredible godparents. Yeah, yeah. He has cicely tyson and oprah. Yeah. Harvey cicely tyson and oprah. Tyler yeah. Harvey so, aside from books, are they involved in his life . Tyler yeah, yeah, cicely comes by and she sees him she sees him all the time, and oprah and i, when she gets time, shell see him. But we go back and forth with pictures all the time and video and everything. Do you want him to follow in your footsteps . Would it please you if he did . Tyler it would be great if all of this work that ive done in the catalogue, in the studio, i could one day say, here are the keys. You take it and run. That would be great, but i have no therell be no pressure or no push for him to do that. But this can all be done is subtle ways, where you expose the kid early. I mean, you know that. What do you think of this . What do you think of that . Thats right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get him invested. But i wouldnt be honestly, if he wanted to be, you know, janitor, if as long and i seriously mean this, as long as he is a good, wonderful, decent, upright man who respects people and does right, then im okay with it. Well, you came out here, to los angeles, but ultimately your roots are in atlanta. Theres a blessing in being hidden. Theres a gift in it. Greatest gift that i was given is coming out here and them not knowing that i was so popular, because i was able to make tremendous deals because i was underestimated. Because i was able to make tremendous deals i came across sofi and it was the best decision of my life. I feel cared about as a member. Were getting a super competitive Interest Rate on our money. Were able to invest through the same exact platform. I really liked that they didnt have any hidden or extra fees. Sofi has brought me peace of mind. Truly thank you for helping me prepare for whatever the future has in store. There are times when our need to connect really matters. To keep customers and employees in the know. To keep business moving. Comcast business is prepared for times like these. Powered by the nations largest gigspeed network. To help give you the speed, reliability, and security you need. Tools to manage your business from any device, anywhere. And a team of experts here for you 24 7. Weve always believed in the power of working together. Thats why, when every connection counts. You can count on us. chuckles what are these . Okay, so i mean, theyre pajamas. Im not an idiot. Tyler theyre pajamas, theyre pajamas. But let me tell you why theyre special to me. My mother, when i started to become successful, she would say to me every christmas, shes like, youre so hard to shop for. I dont know what im gonna get you. I said, listen, just get flannel pajamas for me, okay . Okay, thats what ill do. So she goes to walmart every year oh, these are from walmart . I love this. Theyre from walmart. The sleeves are up to here. Oh. And the and the pants are up to here. Wait, she doesnt know youre 65 . Well, she clearly knows, but she said, well, this is the biggest they can get, and i got the biggest she sounds like madea. This is the biggest one that they can get. And i was going through some things, and this day, i was missing her a lot because she died in 2009. And i opened the drawer and i see these. And i sit there on the floor and just looking at them and going, wow. Wow. And i actually put them on that night. When you finally decided you were going into business opening a studio, you were insanely wealthy. You were making millions and millions off of films and plays and books and all of this stuff. So you had a lot of money, was it just now i got the taste for it. Im gonna get more. Wow, thats a really good question. No. What for me, looking at, you know, people who were mentors to me, like who i didnt know at the time, like oprah and even cosby back then, it was clear that these people were doing something different. They werent like other actors or people in the business who had to wait for the next gig. I didnt want to be the guy that was dependent on somebody else for the next thing i do. And owning the copyright, owning my material and image and branding, owning all of that was very important to me because i knew that if i owned that, then my future and my destiny would be different for me and my children. Where do you get that template . Because you didnt have a role model to teach you that. Oprah winfrey. Watching her. Watching her on her show. And somebody said she owns her show. Im like, okay, what does that mean . There i am 18, 19 years old trying to figure out what does own your show mean . Oh, wait. What does owning intellectual property thats what that means. Okay. And the greatest gift i was given, this is theres a blessing in being hidden. Theres a gift in it. Greatest gift that i was given is coming out here and them not knowing. That i was so popular. Because i was able to make tremendous deals because i was underestimated. Harvey well, you came out here to los angeles, but ultimately your roots are in atlanta. Tyler yeah. Harvey the movie business is here in l. A. The Television Business is in l. A. Why atlanta . I just didnt feel like i wanted to come and be in a place where there was so much rejection, theres so much politics, and theres a game that has to be played specifically. And if you dont play the game specifically and follow the rules specifically, it doesnt reward you. I wanted to be in a place where i can create my own world, play my own put up my own set of rules, and make that happen thats why i wanted to do a studio in atlanta. So its to take the noise away . Take it absolutely. Take the noise away. Quieten it all down, and again, that gut feeling that thats what i was supposed to do. There was 7 billion in filming that went on in atlanta last year. So im in the right place. Harvey you now have a 300 acre 330 acre studio complex there. Tyler yeah. It rivals any studio in los angeles and hollywood. Are you competing with paramount and warner bros. . No, not my intention. Im not trying to compete with anybody. Im just doing what feels right for me. You gotta fill this 330 acre facility with as much as you can because thats how you get the money you talked about in starting the studio in the first place. So, by definition, isnt there competition to get them out of hollywood and into atlanta . Well, heres the thing. I have just done a deal with viacom that is 90 episodes of television a year. That alone is just me writing, producing, directing, doing all of that myself, just as ive been doing for own for all these years. The own deal is about to expire, and viacom is firing up, and its enormous. Was it difficult to break from oprah . Tyler oh, absolutely. Because were friends, and its important that the friendship was the utmost importance going in, and we both knew that. So, at this point, to be leaving, yes. Its not over. Its just not exclusive anymore. So the exclusivity is done. Is she understanding about all of this . Absolutely. Yeah, shes very, very clear on what has happened, what has been brought, and just awfully gracious and kind and thankful. Shes amazing, man. She is what people believe she is. There is messaging in your work. Yeah, thats what i want people to walk away with. To see something in themselves that becomes a bit of a mirror in the movie that makes them go, hmm. Maybe thats me. It aint gonna be in boo , but laughing but in the other movies and stories that im telling, absolutely. Wont be a new thing. And it wont be their First Experience with social distancing. Overcoming challenges is what defines the military community. Usaa has been standing with them, for nearly a hundred years. And well be here to serve for a hundred more. So to breathe better i started oncedaily anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say go this way i say ill go my own way with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Do not use anoro if you have asthma. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. The most common side effects are sore throat, diarrhea and pain in the arms and legs. Ask your doctor about oncedaily anoro to start treating your copd. Go your own way save at anoro. Com heres the thing about managing for your business. S when youve got public clouds, and private clouds, and hybrid clouds things can get a bit cloudy for you. But now, theres the Dell Technologies cloud, powered by vmware. A single hub for a consistent operating experience across all your clouds. That should clear things up. Music and you say as long as im here no one can hurt you dont wanna lie here but you can learn to i know what these are, and im gonna get emotional. Tell me. Tyler these are two i have four of the chairs that belonged to abraham lincoln. And i got em at an auction house, and they were very special to me, number one, because they were owned by lincoln who, you know, did the emancipation proclamation. And which led to the 13th amendment and the freeing of the slaves. So to have this in my possession just means the world to me. Hes my hero. Yeah. I would love to sit in these. Can we sit . Go right ahead. Lets do it. Wow. The only other person that has sat in these since we owned them are me and president obama. Wow. Okay, compose myself. I want to talk about what youre gonna leave behind. Tell me about what you think your contribution is in the movie industry. Tyler i feel very strongly that i was a person that came along in the industry and changed it in a sense for independent thinkers and independent filmmakers, and to understand that you dont necessarily have to operate inside of a system that has already been designed. You can work outside of it and have your own life and your own voice. Voice. And for me, to have people to be able to point to me as they do now and say, that guy did it his way. Maybe i can, too. Thats good. Thats really good. What about specifically to black filmmakers . Mm, yeah. And the same. Its the same. Its just youre not limited by the color of your skin. If i had thought that in any way in any way at any time, that i was limited because i was black, then i wouldnt have been able to have the success that i have but there were obstacles. Certainly. Certainly, there are obstacles, and certainly there are people who want to stand against success of people because of the color of their skin, which is absolutely wrong. But but you cannot let any of that be the determining factor in how high you go in your life. Everybody has detractors, and you have some that say your movies and your shows are not important enough. I mean, there somehow has to be more gravitas. In 30 years, how do you think your body of work is going to be looked at . Well, my hope is that its looked at for what it is. Just good, Fun Entertainment. Some people take a message from it that helps there is message in your work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But my hope is that its just good, Fun Entertainment that people want to see. I have never taken myself too seriously with the work. Ive never ive never tried to do schindlers list. You know, its not my its not my but you have messaging. I mean, your faith gets your faith comes out in so many different ways. And thats important. Yeah, absolutely. To me, yeah. So as long as that continues to live and continues to be a seed of hope for people, then, okay. You know, there are a lot of people who just are desperate, and there are a lot of people who feel like they cannot get out of a situation a bad situation in life, and they lose hope. Yeah. You are living proof it can change. Do you feel that that, you know, it rubs off on people because they look at you and they say, in my deepest despair, look at what he did. Mmhmm, yeah. Of course. And i think, again do they tell you that . Yeah. Oh, gosh, ive heard that lots of times. You know, me the greatest review i ever got was from a woman who whose sister was in an abusive relationship. And she sent me a note online that said. So thats the legacy. Thats what i want to leave. Thats what i want people to walk away with. To see something in themselves that becomes a bit of a mirror in the movie that makes them go, hmm. Maybe thats me. It aint gonna be in boo , but but in the other movies and stories im telling, absolutely. Why they got that boy dressed like a cow . You oughta be ashamed of yourself. Got that child dressed like chocolate milk in a box. Mabel. In my other line of work, tmz. Mmhmm. There is a woman who works for me, raquel. Raquel, yeah, yeah, yeah. And i know that you contacted raquel and said, id love to be on raq rants. and she sat down with you, and i dont know if you know this, but afterwards, she cried. Really . She cried and she said, i never thought a person like me would have an opportunity like that. Really . That makes me feel really good. Really good. Wow. Wow. There are probably a lot of raquels who interact with you. And each situation is very special. Theyre all very special, and they all move me the same way. Because, man, so many people are dealing with so much stuff that that one little bit of hope, that one little touch, that one little bit of encouragement can be rocket fuel to the next level, you know . So that makes me feel really good. Tyler, i cannot thank you enough. This was really moving. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for asking me to do this. Thank you. I appreciate it. Appreciate it. A precious heirloom. This was once the property of George Washington. Youre a v. I. P. [ laughing ] yeah. And the pride of a modest family. My father was a truck driver. We got along, but we were very frugal. So how did she end up with washingtons wallet . Are you a descendant of George Washington . No, im not. And its quite a long story. A story about love of country. We want these things because we want a connection to these men. The allure of big bucks. I established a value for the wallet. It was a lot of money. And some good oldfashioned intrigue. Someone took the wallet and disappeared. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]