TMZ Composite
Exclusive

Tyrese Gibson Fires Back at Home Depot ... You Can't Bully Me!!

Tyrese Gibson isn't about to let Home Depot call him a liar over his claims of racism ... saying he refuses to be bullied by the retail giant, and is gonna do all he can to correct the alleged discrimination he says he faced inside one of HD's stores.

Tyrese tells us he's 100% committed to "taking a stand against The Home Depot in defense of our own civil rights and the civil rights of all who have been subjected to discriminatory practices and consumer racial profiling."

He continues, "The Home Depot and its team of attorneys seek to deny our claims and silence our voices as reflected in their most recent court filing. But we will not back down. We will not be bullied. We will use all of our energy to  correct the conduct of the company, in service of the broader goal of a shared future free from discrimination."

TMZ.com

TMZ broke the story, HD responded to Tyrese's lawsuit Thursday claiming they've reviewed surveillance footage that pokes a lot of holes in Tyrese's initial lawsuit.

BACKGRID

The store says Tyrese came in, grabbed a bunch of items and had a cashier ring everything up ... then left the register to do more shopping for 25 minutes, forcing the cashier to clear Tyrese's transaction.

In his original lawsuit, Tyrese said the cash register delay happened because of a computer glitch and he had to go to the parking lot to hide out because people started to recognize who he was rather than stick around to watch the rest of the transaction.

Tyrese says the cashier allowed him to leave his credit card with a couple buddies who would complete the transaction ... but HD is calling BS, saying their footage shows Tyrese never even spoke face-to-face to the cashier.

Eventually, Tyrese got on FaceTime with the cashier from the parking lot, but the cashier and store manager let him know he needed to come inside and present his ID to complete the purchase.

Home Depot says their surveillance footage shows Tyrese come back inside, get in a heated argument with store employees ... but he eventually showed his ID and completed the purchase.

Tyrese's lawsuit is for $1 million.

Click here for info about our online advertising practices.