Tyler Perry urged audiences to "refuse hate" during a moving speech at the 93rd Academy Awards on April 25. The entertainment mogul was honored with a humanitarian award given out periodically to an "individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." Past honorees of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award include Oprah, who was honored in 2011, and Angelina Jolie in 2013.

Perry has long been known for his acts of generosity, which have included fundraising for social justice causes to paying for people’s Walmart layaways during the holiday season. He was also recognized for helping to create a safe work environment under COVID-era restrictions—his studio was among the first to resume filming.

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After taking the stage at L.A.'s Union Station to accept the award, Perry delivered a speech that summed up his philosophy—and hopefully inspired others to think similarly. "When I set out to help someone, it is my intention to do just that. I'm not trying to do anything other than meet somebody at their humanity," he said.

While speaking, Perry credited his own life experiences with this empathetic approach to charity. Before he was a billionaire with a 330-acre film studio in Atlanta, Perry endured struggles including homelessness and an abusive childhood.

Perry shared a story about encountering a homeless woman outside his studio 17 years ago. After offering the woman money, she replied that what she really needed was a new pair of shoes. Her request made sense to Perry. "I remember being homeless and having one pair of shoes and they were bent at the heel," he recalled.

"I took her into the studio. She was hesitant to go in. We go to wardrobe and there were all these boxes and things on the wall. We had to stand on the middle of the floor. We find some shoes. I'm waiting for her to look up. All this time she's looking down. Finally she looks up and there are tears in her eyes. She says, Thank you, Jesus. My feet are off the ground.' She said, 'I thought you'd hate me for asking.' I said, 'How can I hate you when I used to be you?" Perry said.

Perry said his mother, Willie Maxine Perry, who died in 2009, first taught him the lesson in empathy he relayed on the Oscars stage . Willie was born in Louisiana during the Jim Crow era. Through events like the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 and the killing of four Black schoolgirls during a church bombing in Birmingham, Maxine learned the cost of hatred.

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Tyler Perry and his mother in 2006.

"My mother taught me to refuse hate. She taught me to refuse blanket judgement. And in this time, with all of the internet and social media and algorithms and everything that wants us to think a certain way," he said. "It is my hope that all of us will teach our kids to refuse hate."

During this time, Perry implored audiences to resist prejudice and biases. "I've refused to hate someone because they are Mexican, they are Black, they are white, or LGBTQ. I refuse to hate someone because they are a police officer. I refuse to hate someone because they are Asian. I hope that we refuse hate," he concluded.

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Elena Nicolaou

Elena Nicolaou is the former culture editor at Oprah Daily.