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Tyler Perry Sues Former Employee for Stalking

Plus, Tasha Smith ordered to stay away from husband.

Tyler Perry is the latest celebrity to get the unwanted attention of a stalker.
Perry filed for a protective order Monday against Joshua Sole, reportedly a former employee of Tyler Perry Studios, for criminal trespass at the Atlanta facility. The media mogul also filed a lawsuit against Sole, seeking over $100,000 in damages. Perry claims Sole was trying to intimidate him. Perry says he is entitled to the money because of the “discomfort and annoyance caused by the diminished value of peaceful enjoyment” he gets from the property.
Sole apparently was so determined to get a face-to-face with Perry, according to the lawsuit, that he tampered with the alarms and surveillance equipment at Tyler Perry Studios. He then climbed into the studio through a suspended ceiling, the lawsuit said.
Perry is asking the court to ban Sole from coming within 500 feet of him, and to compel Sole to undergo psychological evaluation and treatment as well as pay Perry at least $100,000. The studio executive will let a jury decide if he deserves more compensation, the lawsuit said. Perry also wants $25,000 for attorney fees.

The lawsuit doesn’t say whether Perry fired Sole or in what capacity he was employed.

In addition, Tasha Smith, star of Perry's For Better or Worse, has been ordered to stay away from her husband, Keith Douglas, after allegedly threatening him. Douglas claims that the actress goes into booze-filled tantrums and that she threatened to kill him or get people to hurt him, warning him to "not fall asleep or something will happen." He even alleges that she threatened him in front of his children, forcing him to flee to escape her rage.

According to TMZ, Douglas got a court order forcing Smith to keep her distance. However, the couple still lives together, so she's only ordered to stay two yards away when they are at home, but 100 yards away when they are outside of their home.

Smith's reps have not responded to the allegations.

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(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

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