Paramount decides it won’t sell majority stake in BET Media Group, source tells AP

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr.
AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — BET won’t be sold after all: Paramount Global decided against selling the majority stake of the network. Paramount notified bidders — including Tyler Perry, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Byron Allen — late Wednesday night about its decision to close the BET Media Group sale process. The outcome was confirmed to The Associated Press Thursday by a a person familiar with the decision who was not authorized to speak publicly. Some popular suitors included actor-director Tyler Perry, music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and businessman Byron Allen. Along with BET, the deal would have included the cable channel VH1. BET was created in 1980 by Robert and Sheila Johnson, who sold it to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion.