Tyler Perry / Getty
*Tyler Perry is speaking out about the way Paramount Global handled the potential sale of BET.
We reported previously that Perry was allegedly the frontrunner to buy Black Entertainment Television (BET). However, the movie mogul was unwilling to pay the $3 billion asking price, according to the Daily Mail.
BET was founded by Robert Johnson in 1980 and was acquired by Viacom in 2001 in a deal worth $3 billion.
Perry, Sean “Diddy Combs” and Byron Allen had expressed interest in acquiring the majority stake in the BET business.
In August, the studio canceled the sale of the asset, which includes BET, VH1, and the BET+ streaming service.
“We made this decision because the benefits of maintaining a majority stake in BET Media Group creates more value for Paramount than any of the proposals we received,” a source from Paramount reportedly told New York Post, according to Vibe.
As we noted earlier in our Social Heat column, journalist Roland Martin jumped on his social media platforms with this translation: “We couldn’t find a fool willing to overspend buying a depreciating asset.”
On Wednesday, during a Bloomberg Equality Summit in Atlanta, Perry said he was “disappointed’ with how Paramount handled the process.
“I was disappointed about it for a number of reasons,” he said as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The way it happened was disrespectful in a lot of ways.”
Perry didn’t go into much detail, but added, “Don’t try to get me to pay for something that’s not worth anywhere near the value.”
When asked if he would reconsider if Paramount offered BET again, Perry replied, “No.”
Perry is a longtime partner with BET which airs many of his shows.
“God bless them,” he added of Paramount. “I’m still working with them. I wish them the best.”
READ MORE: Paramount Scraps Plan to Sell BET – Asking Price was $3B
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