Even with a $1.4 billion net worth, Tyler Perry won't give his family members a free ride.
Alongside Jeezy and Derrick Haynes, the entertainment mogul was a guest on the July 20 episode of Kirk Franklin-hosted podcast Den of Kings. Approximately 17 minutes into the roundtable, seen below, Perry revealed that he once fired his aunt.
"She said she wanted a job. She would always call asking for money. I said, 'Okay,' I would send her the money," Perry continued. "I [was] like, 'Listen, I want to help you. I want to help you build this thing, not be welfare to you. So, let me give you a job.'"
But Perry's aunt took the opportunity for granted, and according to the Straw director, she often wouldn't come to work. "'Okay, well you gotta go,'" Perry recounted of firing his relative. "You want me to hand you the money but you don't want to work for it. See, that doesn't work for me."
Perry explained that he sets the same standards for his 10-year-old son, Aman, who has to "do chores" and "work" for what he wants.
"I don't believe in giving us things that are just going to handicap us," he continued. "That is the worst thing you can do."
Perry also recalled that after the death of his mother, Willie Maxine Perry, in 2009, he gave his family members a 60-day notice for them to be "gainfully employed."
"'Because I'm not going to keep supporting you like this,'" Perry said, adding that they "all got jobs."
"And it wasn't even jobs where they're making a lot of money, but it was a job. It was something else for them to do to feel some pride in. That's the same thing I would want somebody to do for me," he continued.
The filmmaker also explained that certain relatives have gotten "mad" at him when he didn't give them one million dollars. He also warned Hayes to watch out for relatives who try to take advantage of him financially.
Perry has previously expressed not wanting to spoil his son and told talk show host Sherri Shepard last December that the child is only gifted "books and Legos" and travels coach.