Meghan Markle made a rare public appearance on Wednesday to support close friend Tyler Perry as he was recognized at the Paley Honors Fall Gala in Los Angeles.
The Duchess of Sussex — who appeared solo, as husband Prince Harry was in New York at the The New York Times Dealbook Summit — posed on the carpet alongside Perry and sat next to him inside the Beverly Wilshire event, as he was toasted for his achievements in media. The Duke and Duchess both served on the event’s host committee.
Perry became close with Markle and Prince Harry after they exited the royal family in 2020 and struggled to relocate amid the pandemic. The couple originally headed to Canada before their location was revealed, and Perry offered up his Beverly Hills home — as well as a much-needed security detail — to them while they sorted out their next moves, all in total secrecy. The mogul is now godfather to their daughter Lilibet.
In accepting his honor, Perry led an emotional 10-minute speech that had much of the room in tears, first noting how his mother had died almost exactly 15 years ago and during this time of year, he typically doesn’t “book anything, I hide out, I go to the mountains, I pray, I talk to God and I just be alone so that I can grieve, because I don’t know how grief is going to show up.”
The filmmaker admitted that he’s not comfortable being honored, and “in order for me to be here today, I had to figure out a way in to allow me to celebrate. So rather than talk about the things that I’ve done with work and businesses — which been great and I’ve loved that I’ve been able to help so many people — but I’d rather talk about it on a much more personal level.” Perry recalled his childhood with a physically abusive father and being sexually abused by several adults in his community.
“The very fact that I can stand here today and that little boy who didn’t have the tools that I have as a man, he was able to make it. So the very fact that I’m standing here, I think that’s enough to allow myself to be celebrated,” he said to applause from the crowd. Perry added that now at 55, he is “the freest version of myself that I’ve ever been.”
“So to everyone in this room, as you live your life, as you go from day to day, no matter what you’re going through, I don’t care how bad it gets in the world, in this business, it’s tough, but I want you to know something, don’t let anybody steal your ability to heal,” he concluded.
Markle wasn’t the only A-lister in attendance, as Oprah Winfrey, Kerry Washington, Ted Sarandos and Nicole Avant were also on hand to honor Perry. Oprah kicked off the evening, calling him her “big little brother” and reflecting on Perry’s journey to being a mega writer-producer-director and owner of his own studio.
“He not only believes and builds his own dreams, he creates and fulfills dreams for others and gives them the courage and the confidence to dream for himself. Let me tell you, he’s a giver, a real giver,” Oprah told the crowd, while also highlighting the work he does off screen. “He is the quiet good samaritan. He is the fixer. He is the healer. Most of his charity no one ever sees or hears about. The majority of people watch the news and they think, ‘Oh, what a shame;’ Tyler watches and says, ‘What can I do to make a change?’ I’m telling you, he so inspires me. I am so proud of the man he is.”
Washington, who stars in Perry’s upcoming Netflix film The Six Triple Eight, credited the mogul for encouraging her “to dream a bigger dream for myself, to reach further, to dream that there was something out there for me that was beyond what I had imagined” when he cast her in For Colored Girls in 2010 which “changed the trajectory of my career, it changed my idea of what was possible.”
The actress added, “If we’re going to talk about stars, Tyler is my North Star. He leads the way. He guides me, he teaches me what direction to move in professionally, personally, spiritually, in service, in love. He teaches me what to reach for again and again and again.”
Washington also joked, “He possesses an almost superhuman work ethic. I actually had a therapist say to me recently, ‘You know, you do a lot.’ And I said, ‘I think maybe I need to stop hanging out with Tyler, because he’ll make you feel like you’re not doing anything with your life.’”
