In a recent interview with Michelle Obama’s brand-new podcast, “Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast,” Tyler discussed how his parenting style varies from that of his own parents. Becoming a father has given Tyler Perry the chance to reflect on his own upbringing.
Michelle said that Obama was careful to avoid repeating some of the habits of the dads he observed as a child when he showed up for his children Sasha and Malia. The media mogul appreciated the former president’s remark.
I can’t wait for you to hear the latest episode of The Light Podcast with @TylerPerry.
We talk about resilience, the power of healing, and what it means to keep your light shining even in the face of adversity.
Take a listen now on @Audible_com: https://t.co/vl6kht3SU1 pic.twitter.com/6mxBWBxTlt— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) March 14, 2023
“I realized I didn’t have an example, and my father would beat the hell out of me every chance he got,” said the “Madea” mastermind. Tyler, 53, said his father, Emmitt Perry Sr., called him a jackass every day of his life.
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“That’s what I heard all the time. But one day — being a writer helped me find my catharsis in a lot of things — and so all the things that my father was doing, I realized he was teaching me how to be a father, just in reverse,” he explained.
Michelle emphasized that his account of correcting his son Aman Perry was evidence that he was behaving differently from his own father. In 2014, Tyler and his ex-girlfriend Gelila Bekel, who he dated for ten years, had their one child. They allegedly parted ways in 2020.
We had a babysitter helping us, and Tyler said, “I walk in the room and you know he’s just giving them the business; he didn’t want to brush his teeth.” Aman was maybe 5 or 6 years old at the time. The billionaire was at the door, watching the child’s antics, but he was unaware of it.
“I watched him for a minute, and then I had the nanny leave, and I got down eye-to-eye and I was talking to him,” said the “Alex Cross” actor. He told his son, “Listen to me, you are not going to be this way. We love you. We are your parents. You will not behave this way. We taught you better than this. You are a better kid than this. You’re going to be a better man than this.”
Tyler said he became emotional in that moment with his son, just as he did while sharing the story on Michelle’s podcast. “You not gone Oprah me right now right now, this is about you,” he jokingly told the former first lady.
He continued, “I had to leave the room, and you know, he said, ‘I’m sorry Papa, I’m sorry.’ He brushed his teeth and did all those things. But I went out on the balcony, I was in tears because I realized nobody had ever talked, got down and talked to me eye to eye, and had a conversation to me that I could understand.”
Instead, according to the writer, his parents resorted to screaming, swearing, and making derogatory comments. Yet he discovered the empathy he needed as a child via his own parental journey.
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