The Federal Communications Commission is pressuring Paramount to take more steps to put an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies ahead of earning approval for its massive merger with Skydance Media.
The FCC is requiring Paramount to state that it will refrain from further DEI policies as a condition for getting its merger approved by the federal agency, The Wrap reported.
“We can only under the statute move forward and approve a transaction if we find that doing so serves the public interest,” FCC chair Brendan Carr said of the planned merger. “If there’s businesses out there that are still promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination, I really don’t see a path forward where the FCC could reach the conclusion that approving the transaction is going to be in the public interest.”
With talks between Skydance and Paramount slowing down, the pair approved a 90-day extension several weeks ago. But the FCC has not yet given its nod to the plans.
Some of Paramount’s more woke employees have condemned the entertainment giant for scaling back its DEI policies, and a group of them gathered to sign a letter announcing their disappointment in the company.
“As employees of Paramount Global, we are extremely disappointed — but not surprised — by the senior leadership team’s decision to roll back our commitments to DEI,” the letter released in March read.
“This capitulation reflects the profound hypocrisy in extracting labor from diverse communities, creating content from and for diverse communities, targeting the dollars of diverse communities… while committing to the erasure and exclusion of those very same diverse communities,” the employees continued.
Paramount faces other pressures, as well, in particular the lawsuit filed by Donald Trump that accuses its CBS news branch of working to help Harris’s campaign. The complaint singled out “CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.”
In February, a federal judge denied a motion filed by CBS to dismiss the lawsuit against its 60 Minutes program as the Trump team upped its ante by demanding $20 billion in damages, up from its initial $10 billion.
The fallout has already swept 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens off the playing field as the TV exec announced this month that he has resigned from his position.
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