Tyler Perry is in Talks to Buy Majority Stake in BET

As Paramount is selling its majority ownership stake of BET Media Group, Tyler Perry is reportedly in talks to buy it.

BET may have a Tyler Perry takeover. With television and movie studio Paramount expanding its streaming network Paramount+, the company is reportedly selling the majority ownership stake of BET Media Group, which Perry is rumored to be in talks to acquire. Also looking to purchase the BET majority ownership is Byron Allen, television producer and Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios founder.

Perry, 53, is currently a minority stake holder of the company, in addition to Kenya Barris, Rashida Jones and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas. The A Jazzman's Blues filmmaker also helped launch BET+ in 2019, two years after he signed a film and TV deal with BET.

The billionaire first established a partnership with BET in 2005, when his debut theatrical film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, was funded by the multimedia company. In addition to Madea plays, Perry's shows including House of Payne, Sistas, The Oval, Ruthless, Zatima, and Assisted Living are all available on BET and BET+. If the sale goes through, Paramount plans to maintain a “commercial relationship” with BET.

In January, Perry began filming upcoming war drama Six Triple Eight in Atlanta, followed by production in Little Bradford, Germany. Starring in the film, which focuses on the all-Black and all-female 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II, are Kerry Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, and others.