Tyler Perry Says Trying To Purchase BET Was A Disappointment

Tyler Perry is finally breaking his silence about what happened when he tried to purchase BET from Paramount Global.

While at the Bloomberg Equality Summit, Perry said, “I was disappointed about it for a number of reasons. The way it happened was disrespectful in a lot of ways.”

He continued, “Don’t try to get me to pay for something that’s not worth anywhere near the value.” Perry also “gave a firm no” when he was asked about his interest in securing ownership of BET if it goes up for sale again. “God bless them. I’m still working with them. I wish them the best.”

Perry currently holds a minority stake in BET+ and works with the network where most of his major shows live. Back in 2005, the network helped fund his first major film Diary of a Mad Black Woman. He would go on to land a long term movie deal with Paramount in 2017.

The partnership seemed to be going well for Perry, Bob Bakish, the Paramount Global president and CEO, and BET Networks president Scott Mills.

It was reported on August 16 that Paramount Global decided to not move forward with the sale of BET’s majority stake because “a sale wouldn’t result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet.”