Most fans know Tyler Perry’s plate is always full, thanks to his duties as an actor, director and producer. Unfortunately, that means things will occasionally slip by his watchful eye when it comes to his multiple productions. However, the styling of actors’ wigs has been a constant sore spot for the media mogul and, this time, the topic has led to his BET drama Sistas becoming public fodder on social media. Now, after being bombarded by fans, Perry finally responded to the Twitter criticism.
Viewers of the BET series haven't held back when taking to the interent, calling out Tyler Perry for “bad” wigs. After years of criticism, Perry finally spoke up about the hairstylists during the Sistas after-show special (via TVLIne). Given the Twitter chatter, he seemingly wanted to clear the air. The producer said about the whole hair debacle:
I hire people to do hair. Pay them $65 an hour. You heard that right. $65 an hour. They work 10 to 12 hours a day to make sure the hair is right. That’s their job, so I’m paying them to do their job and they’re doing that. They’re doing a great job. Sometimes, things slip because I move a little fast, but they get it done. Stop asking me about some damn hair. Go talk to somebody that’s got a hot curler. Like I’m walking around with a damn hot curler.
So Tyler Perry seems to be done talking about the whole wig issue. At the very least, the studio head has a sense of humor about the situation. I mean, do viewers really expect him to follow the actresses around with a hot curler? But if anything, Perry seemed more defensive when it came to the actual hairstylists and their work. As the writer-director pointed out, the on-set stylists are doing the best job they can, especially considering the shooting schedule Perry mentioned.
When his first Netflix film -- A Fall from Grace -- debuted in 2020, viewers couldn’t help but notice some issues with the hairstyling (or lack thereof) in the film. Just like Sistas, they took to social media to call out Perry for the faux pas. At the time, Perry didn’t address the issue.
After sharing his reasoning in this latest discussion, Tyler Perry wasn’t done airing out his grievances about the Sistas wigs, as he admitted that hairstyling isn’t part of his creative wheelhouse. Seemingly annoyed, the entertainment impresario explained to his detractors what he is and is not good at:
I want all of y’all to stop talking about hair to me, please. I swear to you, these are the things I can do: I can run a company, I can build a house, I can go on stage. I do all of this stuff. I know what I do. I don’t know how to do hair. I don’t know nothing about it.
In his defense, Tyler Perry didn’t build his multimedia company by selling, washing and styling hair. And given the turnaround Perry allows for his various productions, there's always the chance things won't always be quite perfect.
Amid the criticism, Tyler Perry still has multiple projects lined up over the next few months. We'll see if the mounting internet commentary manages to spark any behind-the-scenes change for his productions moving forward.
