Christian Keyes put the entertainment industry on notice when he unloaded shocking allegations about his enduring years of sexual harassment and an attempted sexual assault.
Fearful of retaliation, the actor remained vague in his descriptions of the assailant in a Dec. 15 Instagram Live, as he carefully recounted unwanted advances and a six-figure bribe as tactics that the unrelenting Hollywood power player has used throughout Keyes’ career.
He described the man as a pivotal figure in film and television, saying that the individual is praised for his good deeds to help others, like paying for groceries.
The “All the Queen’s Men” creator said the public would easily identify the man by hearing his voice — a realistic possibility since Keyes admitted he has secretly recorded some of the indecent proposals. He also revealed that a woman repeatedly grabbed his “equipment” on set.
In a December interview with Atlanta Black Star, Keyes disclosed that writing and creating became his “refuge” as a child who experienced trauma growing up in the foster care system and being abused by the first woman who adopted him.
“Child Protective Services, man, they dropped the ball probably a dozen times,” he told us. “Neighbors complained because she would have, as a punishment, she made me walk down the street naked in the rain at 9 years old to ask a neighbor for a magazine.”
The father of one went on to launch his career with roles in Tyler Perry‘s stage plays in the early 2000s but has since landed numerous film and television gigs.
As folks continue to bombard Keyes with speculation about who assaulted him, he shared a clip of the sit-down on Instagram on Dec. 20 and provided more clarity about why he was hesitant to reveal their names.
“Maybe it’ll be a little easier to understand why it was difficult to speak up about it, difficult to find the courage,” he began in his caption. “These powerful people target people with traumatic childhoods, and use that to bond with them and earn their trust, then they try their “attempts”… Once you go through anything like I went through, for years as a kid. This new trauma can almost make you shut down again.”
“And even though in the moment, you find the strength to say NO to the attempt, you still may not be strong enough to speak up, or brave enough,” the 48-year-old continued. “Worrying about if this person was going to take away, my livelihood, worrying about how many other people are out there that that weren’t strong enough to say no and they actually said yes. Is this person still doing it… still pressuring people to walk away from their integrity, and their morals, for an opportunity… you pray and gather the strength to speak up, and most people are in your corner and believe you…”
Keys said he refuses to respond to “ignorant or negative comments” from those who have cast doubt on his story or accused him of sharing his truth for “clout.”
“I just pray that those people never have to experience themself or never have any family members that go through anything this traumatic, and then they have people, talking ish about them, who don’t even know them…” he concluded.
Social media users have theorized en masse who the culprit could be, with scores of people deducing that Perry is the mysterious “powerful man.”
Keyes, however, seemed to cast doubt on the theories of his fans playing detective when he liked a tweet suggesting that the mogul had not perpetuated the trauma that he endured. Throughout his rise to prominence, Perry has been vocal about his own experiences with sexual assault at a young age.
Watching Christian Keyes & can tell he is clearly a victim…only $3 grand to his name & violated by a gay billionaire 🥺 & no I don’t believe it was TP…I wish Christian would have taken action…that man will still have his money & good name & Christian will remain broken pic.twitter.com/FLLpxfIX1l
— It Tis What it Tis (@DaGoddess100) December 16, 2023
“Watching Christian Keyes & can tell he is clearly a victim…only $3 grand to his name & violated by a gay billionaire & no I don’t believe it was TP…I wish Christian would have taken action…that man will still have his money & good name & Christian will remain broken,” read a Dec. 16 post.
The “Madea Goes to Jail” and “What’s Done in The Dark” standout has enjoyed a long work relationship with Perry dating back nearly two decades. Keyes is also the creator of “All the Queen’s Men,” a series executive produced by the billionaire creative for BET+.
