Tyler Perry realized he and Emmitt Perry Sr. weren't biologically related after his mother's death. "From a child, I'd always known that this man despised me, and I could not figure it out for the longest. I could not figure out why he hated me so," shared Perry during an episode of "Oprah's Master Class." Perry periodically asked his mother, Willie Maxine Perry, if Perry Sr. was his real father. She always assured him he was. He said, "On her death bad, I'm 40 at the time, I asked her again, 'Is he my father?'" After she died in 2009, Perry did a DNA test and learned that Perry Sr. wasn't his actual dad. "I'm sure she had all of her own reasons for why she didn't tell me," Perry continued. "I don't even know if she knew, but if I could wake her up and have one conversation, that would be the one."
During Perry's panel at 2014's Women's Empowerment event, Perry opened up about his mother's decision to keep his father's identity a secret. "I love my mother to death, but she lied to me," said Perry (via Essence). Perry also revealed that he was on the hunt to find his actual father, though it doesn't appear as if he's had any luck. However, Perry has continued to take care of Perry Sr. because, despite the abuse, "he always brought every dime he made home to my mother," he told People.
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