Tyler Perry Reveals Thoughts On Rotten Tomatoes In Resurfaced Clip Amid 0% 'Divorce In The Black' Rating
Tyler Perry once declared that he doesn't care what ratings his movies get or what critics have to say about them.
Perry's "Divorce in the Black" immediately became the talk of the internet after it premiered on Prime Video earlier this month.
However, while it has an audience score of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, "Divorce in the Black," which stars Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict, was critically panned, receiving a score of 0% from critics on the website.
Perry has not publicly addressed the criticism and Rotten Tomatoes score, but over the weekend, his pal Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles shared via Instagram an old clip of him talking about negative reviews on Kenya Barris' comedy series "BlackAF."
In the resurfaced scene from 2020, Perry told Barris -- who played a fictionalized version of himself -- that he does not "give a f**k" about what critics think of his movies and shows because they are intended for his community.
"Let me just tell you about them tomatoes," Perry said. "I don't f**k with them. I don't give a damn about a rotten, fresh -- none of that means s**t to me."
"I super-serve my niche. We speak a language, we're talking, we know each other, we get it," he explained.
The "Madea" creator said he's aware that not everyone will understand his work, just like he doesn't enjoy all Oscar-winning films.
Perry added that his priority is to tell stories that are true to himself and his "Blackness" instead of catering to the tastes of "white folk."
"I'm telling the stories that I come from, and that's why they're winning, because people are recognizing themselves in these stories," he told Barris.
"I'm talking to us. That's why millions of people are watching my shows every week. That's why people keep showing up [and] sending the movies to No. 1. I'm talking to us, connecting with us," he added.
Alongside the resurfaced video, Knowles wrote that she "loved" Perry's comments and noted that "there is room for everyone."
She acknowledged that "no one is above criticism," but she also emphasized: "Opinions are like b**t holes. Everybody has one, and you have to follow your own path."
Knowles also had some advice to share for critics.
"Life is short, don't waste your time looking at something that you don't like and then try to bully someone else into doing what you like!" she wrote. "There are too many other choices !! And also because somebody else might love it!"
Amid the negative reviews, the cast of "Divorce in the Black" has defended the film.
When TMZ asked Hardrict about the 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating last week, he said that what mattered to him was that his fans enjoyed the movie.
"It's fine," he said of the negative reviews. "But as long as the people see it, my neighborhood see it, South Side, Chicago, L.A. see it, everybody see it, then I'm happy, it's all love."
