Tyler Perry Reveals the 2 Budget-Friendly Gifts He Bought His Son for Christmas to Keep Him from Getting ‘Spoiled’

Tyler Perry doesn’t splurge on pricy Christmas gifts for his son — for a very intentional reason. 

The billionaire producer, 55, opened up about his surprising parenting philosophies while appearing on the Dec. 18 episode of Sherri. Perry was there to promote his latest project, the Netflix movie The Six Triple Eight, but the discussion took an interesting turn when host Sherri Shepherd brought up his 10-year-old son, Aman, and asked about his “Christmas list.”

The Don’t Look Up star surprised Shepherd, 57, by promptly responding: “He don’t get no Christmas list,” making it very clear that he won’t spoil his kid, even on Christmas. 

“He gets two things: books and Legos,” Tyler continued.

“That’s it?” a surprised Shepherd asked.

“He don’t have a job! What else is he going to get?” Tyler quipped in response.

Tyler also shared a story about the time when he and his ex-girlfriend Gelila Bekele, who is Aman’s mother, decided that they would only fly commercial since their son — who was 5 years old at the time — was already complaining about long lines and getting too accustomed to flying on luxurious private jets. 

“They’ve been going coach for years,” explained Perry.

“You’re letting your son go coach?” exclaimed Shepherd. 

“Absolutely,” Perry said, as the audience erupted into applause. “So that he understands I worked, he did not! So when he works, he can learn that lesson. He’s not going to be one of those ridiculous spoiled rich kids. I can’t stand that. No! He ain’t got no money!” 

Shepherd then asked Perry how he “keeps it normal” for Aman, considering his tremendous success.

“I want him to know who he is before people start to say, ‘Oh, that’s Tyler Perry’s son!’ I want to make sure that he’s not seen in public,” the Hollywood mogul explained. “Even when I’m at a game, I’m in the back so he can play and not be bothered. All those things are important to me so he can have as much of a normal life as he can. Very different from my childhood, but I don’t want him to be that spoiled, rich, entitled.”

Perry has previously spoken about keeping his son’s privilege in check. The Madea’s Farewell Play star opened up to Gayle King during a Q&A at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival about how he wants to raise Aman to be “grounded and balanced” despite growing up in a famous family.

During the conversation, King, 70, asked Perry what it’s like raising a child who is growing up amid such privileged circumstances — a stark contrast to Perry’s own childhood. The filmmaker explained that he has very clear ideas on how he wants to approach privilege.

“[Aman] does not get everything he wants. For birthdays, he’ll get a gift or two,” he said. “For Christmas, he’ll get a gift or two. Because he don’t have a job. He ain’t got no money.”

Perry also took a moment to praise Bekele for helping to keep their son grounded.

“I think when you have a team like Gelila and I are, she is very grounded and balanced at making sure [Aman] stays that way,” he told King. “Because I have wrestled with, I want to give him everything, because I didn’t have it.”

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“But I also know how dangerous that is, because I have friends who have wealthy kids, and I want to punch them in the face,” Perry joked. “You know what I mean? These kids, they’re just… They’re obnoxious! And I can’t raise that either. Because he’s a sweet boy with a very empathetic spirit. And we teach him about how people are all of us.”

“We teach him about the struggle,” he continued. “We teach him about what a blessing it is to have anything. So he gets that, in this sense. And I want to make sure he maintains that.”