Tyler Perry hasn’t been shy about revealing the tough childhood he went through.

Years ago, Perry said that his father was abusive to him growing up and now, in an interview for Oprah’s Master Class on OWN, Perry explained why he still shelters the man who he claims abused him verbally and physically as a child.

“Number one, my mother asked me to because she loved him,” he said. “And secondly, as terrible as he was, and as horrible as he was, he never once left us. We were never hungry. And every time he’d go to work all week, he’d bring the money home. In return, I’m giving him what he gave to me. I had shelter. I had food. He has shelter — pretty nice shelter — and any food that he wants to eat.”

Perry revealed that he found out that Emmitt Perry Sr. was not his actual father and that his mother was untruthful about who Tyler’s actual dad was. She passed away before ever revealing the full story. He also couldn’t understand why his “dad” hated him so much.

“From a child, I’d always known that this man despised me, and I could not figure it out for the longest,” he said. “I could not figure out why he hated me so. And every action was about his hatred or his disdain for me.”

It’s a pretty powerful message to send that you hold no grudges and took the high road. Whatever keeps Tyler at peace is fine with us.

Check out segments of the Oprah interview with Tyler Perry below.