50 Cent recently hopped on social media, announcing that he's out of the running to acquire the BET Media Group. He shared a photo of a news report, writing “We will get them next time, @shaq. That sh*t wasn’t worth 3,000,000,000. #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi." Fif teamed up with Shaquille O'Neal and Kenya Barris earlier this year in efforts to acquire BET. Unfortunately, however, it looks like he's joined the growing list of artists whose bids fell through.
Earlier this week it was revealed that Paramount also refused an offer from Tyler Perry, who was willing to part with $2 billion to acquire the network. Paramount's opening bid was $3 billion, and they weren't willing to go lower. They had initially agreed, later announcing that they'd changed their minds. “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," they said following the news.
50 Cent Tells Shaq They'll "Get Them Next Time"
“When this came up, I thought ‘wow, this is meant to be,'" Perry revealed during an interview. “What I can tell you is it’s worth a lot more with me than it is without me,” he added. Earlier this summer, 50 Cent opened up about where he was in the process of bidding on BET. He also claimed that it's really “Tyler Perry’s network,” though he was still interested in acquiring it at the time. “He’s done enough work there to dominate that," he explained. "And not even only dominate — I don’t think they’ve explored what it would be like not having a Tyler. And he’s created enough content that if they didn’t sell the company to him, he could go across the street and say, ‘I’m going to start my own.'”
Paramount also reportedly turned down an offer from Diddy, eventually halting the sale process altogether. “Media is the most powerful industry in the world but it’s the industry where we have the least amount of ownership, influence and control!” Diddy wrote upon announcing the bid. “It’s time for @BET to be Black-owned again so we have the power to tell our own stories, control our own narrative! This is not about me it’s about WE!!!!”
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