Tyler Perry confirms he’s “very, very interested in taking as much” of BET as he can

Tyler Perry has confirmed reports about his interest in buying BET. 

Speaking to ET’s Nischelle Turner, he shared that the information is “not a rumor,” noting he’d like to own as much stake in the network as possible.

“I’ve been there for four years now and had 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,” he says. 

As Variety previously reported, Tyler is not the only star considering purchasing a majority stake in BET. Diddy and Byron Allen have also expressed their interest, which Tyler says is “really great.”

“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,” he says.

Though he believes Paramount Global chairperson Shari Redstone, Viacom and Paramount “have done a phenomenal job with the network following Bob’s departure,” Tyler says he thinks “there’ll be happiness when it’s Black-owned again.”

Diddy also co-signs the idea of BET being Black-owned. “Media is the most powerful industry in the world but it’s the industry where we have the least amount of ownership influence and control,” he wrote in a now-deleted post. “It’s time for BET to be Black-owned again so we have the power to tell our own stories, control our own narrative! This is not about me it’s about WE!!!!”

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