Tyler Perry on potential BET acquisition: ‘I’m gonna take as much of it as I can’

Perry, Byron Allen and Sean “Diddy” Combs have all expressed an interest in the Black Entertainment Television network.

The race for BET continues and Tyler Perry has still got his sights set on the Black Entertainment Television network.

As theGrio previously reported, Paramount is considering selling a major stake in BET. The move, which is part of an effort to secure funding to help fortify the Paramount+ streaming service, has certainly nabbed the attention of various multi-hyphenates in the industry, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Byron Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, which owns theGrio.

In a recent Entertainment Tonight interview, Perry opened up about the possible acquisition. “Rumor? No, it’s not a rumor,” he disclosed. “I’ve been there for four years now and have tremendous success. I wasn’t expecting this to happen, so, yes — if that is possible, I’m very, very interested in taking as much of it as I can.”

Perry even referenced others vying for the stake. “Part of it is — and I’ve read about Byron Allen and Puffy [Sean “Diddy” Combs] and everybody wanting to bid and so on and so forth, and I think it’s really great,” he said. “This is what I love about it. When Bob Johnson sold it in 2000, I think it was, there wasn’t one Black person who could buy it. So now, to see all of these Black people, men and women, who are able to be in a position to buy it? Man, that makes me feel really, really excited.”

BET, which America’s first Black billionaires Robert Johnson and his then-wife Sheila co-founded, launched in 1979. They sold the company for $3 billion in 2001 to Viacom, which is now Paramount.

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