Paramount Skydance’s BET has created its first board of advisers, bringing together six prominent figures from entertainment, sports, business and media to help guide the network’s next phase. The inaugural advisory board includes BET founder Bob Johnson; Queen Latifah, the Grammy-winning artist, actress, producer and entrepreneur; LL Cool J, the artist, actor and entrepreneur who is also a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee; Troy Vincent, executive vice president of football operations at the NFL; Raymond J. McGuire, president of Lazard’s financial advisory and asset management firm; and George Cheeks, chair of TV Media at Paramount Skydance.
BET said the advisory board will function as a strategic and cultural sounding board, providing insight, perspective and accountability as the brand expands its reach and continues to emphasize stories and voices that shape culture. The company described the six advisers as cultural icons, business leaders and industry visionaries who can help steer BET’s continued evolution at the intersection of media, community and culture.
The move comes during a period of major transition for BET under Paramount Skydance ownership. Next month, BET will shut down BET+, and the streaming service’s content will be folded into Paramount+, the company’s flagship platform. Paramount also acquired Tyler Perry’s 25% ownership stake in BET+ as part of the restructuring.
The advisory board also arrives after significant leadership changes at BET. In December, longtime BET executive Scott Mills announced that he was leaving the company after 23 years, following the completion of David Ellison’s Skydance Media takeover of Paramount Global. Louis Carr, formerly BET’s president of media sales, was named president and now reports to Cheeks.
Bob Johnson’s appointment is especially notable because it brings BET’s founder back into the company’s orbit more than two decades after he departed as CEO. Johnson sold Black Entertainment Television to Viacom, a predecessor to Paramount Skydance, in a stock transaction valued at $3 billion that closed in 2001, a deal that made him a billionaire. He remained CEO of BET until 2006. After leaving, Johnson founded RLJ Entertainment, which operated the British streaming service Acorn TV and Urban Movie Channel, later UMC. AMC Global Media acquired RLJ Entertainment in 2018.
In a statement, Carr said BET has always been more than a platform, calling it a cultural institution with a responsibility to serve, reflect and advance the Black community. He said the new board brings together leaders whose influence, perspective and integrity will help BET honor that responsibility while shaping what comes next.
The creation of the board signals that Paramount Skydance intends to keep BET central to its broader media strategy even as it restructures the brand’s streaming and leadership operations.
