Meghan Markle made a special appearance at the Paley Honors Fall Gala on Wednesday to pay tribute to her friend Tyler Perry, who was recognized for his prolific filmmaking career and philanthropic achievements. The Duchess of Sussex attended the celebration in Beverly Hills without Prince Harry (who was in New York for The New York Times’ DealBook Summit) but spent the evening in the company of Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Kerry Washington.
Wearing a chic strapless black gown by Oscar de la Renta and a diamond necklace, Meghan arrived at the Beverly Wilshire hotel’s sprawling ballroom and sauntered down the red carpet until she noticed the billionaire media mogul at the end of the step-and-repeat. In a giddy manner, she scurried over, clapping her hands before greeting Perry with a long hug. The two shared a conversation and happily posed for photographs together.
During the gala’s cocktail hour, Meghan chatted with Jon Feltheimer, the CEO of Lionsgate Entertainment, and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and his wife, Nicole Avant, a producer and the former US ambassador to the Bahamas. Meghan previously worked with Sarandos, who greenlit Harry & Meghan, her 2022 Netflix documentary series.
Although Meghan did not appear onstage during the gala to publicly praise Perry, she sat next to him and supported him throughout the entire night, especially when Winfrey delivered a powerful speech about his “ginormous spirit” in fulfilling dreams for strangers and overcoming severe physical abuse by his father and sexual abuse by several adults in his community. “He took his pain and his trauma and transformed that into art, into humor, and into hope,” Winfrey told the audience. “He made people feel seen and feel they matter—and that is the secret and the power of Tyler Perry’s success.”
Rapturous applause followed Winfrey’s 14-minute remarks, and Meghan comforted Perry as he held back tears. When accepting his honor, Perry explained why he was extremely emotional, noting that his mother had died almost 15 years ago to the day. During this time of year, he said, he finds it really difficult to be social and typically doesn’t “book anything.” “I hide out, I go to the mountains, I pray, I talk to God, and I just be alone so that I can grieve,” he said, “because I don’t know how grief is going to show up.”
