Tyler Perry has his eyes on BET: Here’s why

Tyler Perry has recently confirmed his interest in acquiring majority stake in BET media group.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Perry said, “Rumour? No, it's not a rumour.”

“I've been there for four years now and have tremendous success. I wasn't expecting this to happen, so, yes — if that is possible, I'm very, very interested in taking as much of it as I can,” explained the 53-year-old.

Perry stated, “Part of it is — and I've read about Byron Allen and [Sean "Diddy" Combs] and everybody wanting to bid and so on and so forth, and I think it's really great.”

"This is what I love about it,” he remarked.

Reflecting on BET, Perry asserted, “When [BET co-founder] Bob Johnson sold it in 2000, I think it was, there wasn't one Black person who could buy it. So now, to see all of these Black people, men and women, who are able to be in a position to buy it? Man, that makes me feel really, really excited.”

Perry believed, “I think there was sadness when Bob sold it, and I think there'll be happiness when it's Black-owned again — even though Shari [Redstone] and Viacom and Paramount [have] done a phenomenal job with it. They didn't let it fall by the wayside, they didn't let it go into dust, they nurtured it and took care of it.”

“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’,” mentioned Perry.

The moviemaker added, “We can very much say that there are conversations. I'm beyond interested.”