Tyler Perry Cancels Tour Because of Fake Facebook Profiles, Online Bootleggers

Director, writer and actor Tyler Perry has cancelled his popular “Madea Gets a Job” stage show because of online bootleggers and fake Facebook profiles claiming to be him and charging fans for meet and greets. Here’s what Perry had to say in a Facebook post:

“There are some horrible people who are pretending to be me or representing me on Facebook and charging people money to do a meet and greet on the tour (I posted a picture below of what they are doing). They are telling people that they are me or working for me and charging them $150 for a meet and greet after the play. DON’T FALL FOR THIS!! That’s not me.

This is so frustrating! Why are people so evil? Why can’t people just get legitimate jobs and stop trying to do the wrong thing all the time? If they put the same amount of energy into doing the right thing as they do in doing the wrong thing they could make it. It’s so sad.”

There are many fake celebrity Facebook profiles, but this is one of the only examples where the celebrity in question has lashed out at the scammers. Unfortunately, he has dinged his fans in the process. By cancelling his tour, Perry will undoubtedly be taking money out of the pockets of online scammers, but he’s also denying his fans the chance to see him. It seems like he could find a middle ground here and weed out the con artists while still running an honest tour, but Perry, apparently, doesn’t see it that way.

What do you think he should have done to fight the fake Facebook profiles claiming to represent him? Was cancelling his whole tour really the best way to combat this problem?


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