Sean “Diddy” Combs is making a bid to purchase the majority stake in BET. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980. Johnson became the first African-American billionaire in 2001, thanks to the sale of the cable station.
CEO Scott Mills currently helms the popular network. The BET Media Group includes BET, BET+, VH1 and BET’s production arm, BET Studios.
As the news of Diddy’s intentions to purchase the channel surfaced on the internet, the media mogul took to Twitter to elaborate on his motives.
“Media is the most powerful industry in the world, but it’s the industry where we have the least ownership, influence, and control,” he explained.
“It’s time for BET to be Black-owned again, so we have the power to tell our own stories and control our own narrative,” he continued. “This is not about me, it’s about we! I’m building a team of leaders in the culture to pursue ownership in BET together! We have to unify our power and resources to create real change! #THETIMEISNOW.”
Tyler Perry has also expressed interest in a bid, as has Weather Channel owner Byron Allen. Perry is already a partner in BET+, along with Kenya Barris, Rashida Jones, and Aaron Rahsaan being amongst its minority stakeholders for BET Studios, which launched in 2021. BET helped Perry to fund his first feature, 2005’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”
Since then, they have gone on to roll out a slew of programming together, including “House of Payne,” “Sisters,” “The Oval,” “Ruthless,” “Zatima,” and “Assisted Living.” It seems that a bidding way could be on the horizon after a spokesperson for Weather Channel owner Byron Allen stated that the Allen Media Group founder is also “interested in buying BET, and he will be pursuing the acquisition of the network.”
