Tyler Perry

=== Spike Lee comments ===
Despite praising Perry in 2006, director [[Spike Lee]] criticized his work in 2009, stating "Each artist should be allowed to pursue their artistic endeavors but I still think there is a lot of stuff out today that is 'coonery buffoonery'" and highlighted the work and content of [[John Singleton]] as well as his own work including ''[[Miracle at St. Anna]]'' (2008), which depicts the heroism of African American soldiers known as the [[Buffalo Soldier]]s during World War II.<ref name="Our World">{{cite video|title=Our World with Black Enterprise |date=May 31, 2009 |url=http://www.blackenterprise.com/tv-video/our-world/full-episode-our-world-with-black-enterprise-tv-video/2009/05/30/our-world-episode-73/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106194319/http://www.blackenterprise.com/tv-video/our-world/full-episode-our-world-with-black-enterprise-tv-video/2009/05/30/our-world-episode-73 |archive-date=January 6, 2010 }}</ref> When asked if Perry's success among black audiences was a result of just giving black America what they wanted, Lee responded, "the imaging is troubling."

In October 2009, during a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview, Perry was read a quote of [[Spike Lee]]'s comments about his work and responded, "I would love to read that [criticism] to my fan base. ... That pisses me off. It is so insulting. It's attitudes like that that make Hollywood think that these people do not exist, and that is why there is no material speaking to them, speaking to us." Perry also stated that "all these characters are bait&nbsp;– disarming, charming, make-you-laugh bait. I can slap Madea on something and talk about God, love, faith, forgiveness, family, any of those."<ref>{{cite news|title=60 Minutes: Tyler Perry's Amazing Journey to the Top|date=October 25, 2009|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/22/60minutes/main5410095.shtml |work=CBS News}}</ref> In an interview with Hip Hollywood, Perry responded to Spike Lee's comments by telling him to "go to hell."<ref>{{cite news|title=Tyler Perry Tells Spike Lee to "Go To Hell!"|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOnY6cx-nBI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/YOnY6cx-nBI |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|date=April 20, 2011|access-date=March 29, 2013|newspaper=Hip Hollywood}}{{cbignore}}</ref>