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Who Run It!

  • Writer: Sey
    Sey
  • Jun 28, 2023
  • 5 min read


BET is Black (see what I did there)! If you all are not super tapped in to the internet or just happened to miss this huge announcement, sit tight. This is #TheMove for you.



BET aka Black Entertainment Television was founded by Robert Johnson. Johnson later became the first Black billionaire based on his own personal net worth upon selling his company to Viacom in 2001 (Banister). This means for a very very long time, BET was not Black Owned. To many, this affected the content that was showed on a network that was supposed to be home for black and brown people alike.


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Courtesy of @Zatoven15

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Courtesy of @shes_rADIAnt


People spoke on how BET should feature Black home decorating shows, more original Black sitcoms, HBCU sports Saturdays and more. I for one wholeheartedly agree! For as long as I can remember, you didn't really see the culture of BET until their award shows and through 106&Park. I will admit I'm younger so that could be why, but things still weren't-for lack of a better word-Black enough. Because one thing about Black people, we are innovative and creative. You just didn't see that with BET's content for a long period, especially within the last decade. It's not uncommon to have countless reruns and old Black movies take up BET's screen, which wouldn't be awful if this wasn't the only content. The exception to all this is Tyler Perry and his slew of sitcom and drama series.


Tyler Perry began working with Viacom in 2017 (Casey). The deal proved to be more than lucrative when BET launched their streaming platform BET+. Perry's work flooded (and still does)BET+. Series like Sistas, All the Queen's Men, The Oval, House of Payne, and more are some of his best claims to fame currently. This deal (along with Perry's prior success) could be the key reason Viacom had no problem selling to him. Allegedly Paramount owners felt as if BET and the whole entire network would do better under Black ownership (duhhh)(Sherman). Perry can also be quoted saying,"And to see Shari at this position saying, 'I think it should be returned to a black owner?' I figured, OK, see, that's my kind of person", which gives truth to these rumors (Khalifeh). Either way it's done! Paramount is a "subsidiary part of Viacom" (Sherman), so the deal was more than likely to give Perry majority stakes making him owner as opposed to the lower stakes he once possessed.


Blacks up 1,000 ahhhh! No, but really despite the controversy that surrounds Perry, I think this could be a good thing. At least I hope so. One thing Perry has always been good at is putting people on! From his countless plays with some recurring characters or actors/actresses (what's ya fave play?), to his movies and now shows Perry is going to take care of his people. We see this with his use of "Bam" (Cassi Davis), "Mr. Brown" (David Mann), and "Sherri" (Cheryl Pepsii Riley). I'm not going to lie, these are just the OG's lol. For the younger crowd he's reused "Zach" (Devale Ellis), Calvin (Lance Gross), "Hattie" (Patrice Lovely) and "Fatima" (Khadeen Ellis). Even now, with this new era of Tyler Perry on BET+ there are over 10 new Black faces in Hollywood (at least in the Black community).


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Courtesy of IMDb

Which leads one to wonder what's so bad about Tyler Perry owning BET? The answer is capitalism lol. Many fear that with this new acquisition Perry can continue pushing out his work and will not open doors for original content and behind the scene roles for black and brown people. These comments started on Twitter, but the idea has been out there since Mo'Nique spoke about getting blackballed in the industry.



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Courtesy of @DeeLaSheeArt

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Courtesy of @RegularBlack_



Here's just one clip of Mo'Nique speaking on her encounter with Tyler Perry via Comedy Hype. This particular one includes an audio recording with them on the phone starting at 03:15. If you're uninterested or it's too long to listen to, I'll summarize the conversation from the recording. Essentially, Lee Daniels was pushing for Mo'Nique to promote the movie she had done with him. This would be press tours, interviews, stuff of that nature. She said she wouldn't do it unless she was paid because she was not contractually obligated to do this. Perry called Mo'Nique and told her she ought to listen to Daniels and what others were saying because if Mo'Nique's role got nominated for an Oscar she could make a whole lot more money on her next project. He also stated that if she won, that's even more money she'd have at her disposal. However, he agreed that it was unfair that Mo'Nique was being painted as the bad guy and even his comment about her being "difficult to work with" shouldn't have been said. All Mo'Nique was asking for was her money's worth.


Despite this terrible situation, I don't think we should be so quick to cast our stones against Perry. I think this new ownership gives him the chance to not only "right" any wrongs he's done to the Black community, but to get more BIPOC people in the door. I agree it's wrong that he publicly criticized Mo'Nique and privately apologized as well as confirmed she's right after the fact. I also agree that lately some of his newer stuff and episodes seem over the top and poorer quality compared to his past works-like the first season of Sistas in 2019. However, You have to respect the hustle. Tyler Perry went from being a homeless man with a dream, to ensuring each of those dreams came true while taking care of his people. Actors and actresses that Perry worked with for decades like Taraji P. Henson and the Manns (David + Tamela)are still thriving. He gave them a lot of their initial opportunities. Not only that, he has a long goal mindset. In his disagreement with Mo'Nique, he was trying to get her to see the long term benefits that could come from a little bit of free work. Even with his production company. All of his work from his plays led to that coming into fruition.

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Courtesy of Concho Valley

His newfound ownership is a testament to his work ethic. Perry had been working with Viacom for several years before assisting with the launch of BET+ (Khalifeh). From directing, producing, and writing content for those shows consistently he has managed to have the number one show-All The Queen's Men-on BET+ as reported in April (Khalifeh). He's been playing the long game all this time to get towards his goal.


All in all, the new ownership to me brings more good than bad. What do you think?



Your next #Move will be here before you know it. See you soon :)




Sources







Nora Sorena Casey, Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tyler-Perry






















Seylon Edmundson


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