Tyler Perry played Santa Claus on Thursday and paid more than $400,000 worth of outstanding layaway tabs for holiday shoppers at Walmart in the Atlanta area.
Sharing in a video on Instagram, shortly after the TMZ report came out, the 49-year-old actor explained that he had hoped to make the gesture anonymous, but due to circumstances (which he doesn’t explain) he was unable to.
In the clip, he detailed who the lucky shoppers were and what they needed to do in order to get their items. (RELATED:Tyler Perry Responds To Criticism He Hired Too Many White People For His New Show)
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“So, I was trying to do this anonymously, but due to some certain circumstances…you all know how nothing can stay secret these days, so I just wanted to go ahead and tell you,” Perry explained.
“If you have a layaway at the Walmart at 844 Cleveland Ave in East Point, Georgia in Atlanta or if you have a layaway at the Walmart at 7001 Concourse Parkway in Douglasville, Georgia. If you have a layaway at either place and it was in there as of 9:30 this morning. It was already in layaway before 9:30 this morning. I have paid for all of your layaways for Christmas,” he said.
“So Merry Christmas to everybody,” the “Madea’s Family Reunion” star shared. “You got to go in to the Walmart and get your layaway, pay a penny, one penny, and you get your layaway.”
“I know it’s hard times, a lot of people are struggling,” he added. “I’m just really really grateful to be able to be in the position to do this. So God bless you. Go get your stuff. Merry Christmas.”
Sources told the outlet that at one store he paid $178,000 for the items and at the one near Douglasville, $256,000.
The “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” star has been full of good deeds lately. He recently made headlines after offering former “Cosby Show” star Geoffrey Owens an acting job on his series “The Haves and the Have Nots.” Owens, a 57-year-old actor with on-and-off projects, was recorded working at a Trader Joes.
In response, Nicki Minaj also vowed to give Owens $25,000 and called out the video recorder for “trying to humiliate” the actor with the social media post.