CBS Boss Who Imposed Racial Quotas Is Expected To Be Sole Surviving Co-Chief Executive After Merger Closes, Even as New Owner Vows To Eliminate DEI Policies

With the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global, ending a months-long drama, the attention — mostly centered around the company’s crown jewel, “the Tiffany Network,” CBS — is now turning to the future of the company and its co-chief executive, George Cheeks, who’s also CEO of CBS Inc.Mr. Cheeks is one of three co-chief executives of Paramount Global, a triumvirate that was put in place after the ouster of CEO Bob Bakish to see the company through the Skydance transaction. It was announced this week that Co-CEO Chris McCarthy will be leaving. Also expected to leave is the third co-CEO, Brian Robbins. Mr. Cheeks, according to industry observers, is expected to be the lone survivor.The acquisition is expected to be completed by August 7, at which point the chief executive of Skydance, David Ellison, will finally have Paramount and its various media properties under his control — something a veteran media reporter, Matthew Belloni, noted has been his goal since late 2023 — and will be able to make changes to them as he sees fit. Mr. Ellison has told the FCC he is committed to unbiased journalism at CBS News and to eliminating “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies. Skydance’s general counsel and co-president of business operations, Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, shared all the steps the new management will take to eliminate diversity initiatives. These steps are in line with the Trump administration’s efforts to stamp out DEI in government, academia, and, if it has the power, at so-called woke corporations like Paramount.The CEO of CBS, George Cheeks, the chairwoman of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, and the president of Showtime and MTV, Chris McCarthy. Noam Galai/Getty Images for ParamountThe commitment is likely a disappointment for Mr. Cheeks, who is biracial and openly gay, and was one of the primary drivers of Paramount adopting its extensive DEI programs.Mr. Cheeks, who had to navigate pressure from the news division to stand up to the Trump administration — as well as reportedly from the matriarch of the family that was selling Paramount, Shari Redstone — to tamp down anti-Trump and anti-Israel content at the network, has so far maneuvered deftly through these tempestuous waters and appears on track to survive.This is despite his aggressive embrace of DEI and imposition of clear racial quotas, which CBS’s detractors have claimed are illegal. In the summer of 2020, at the height of the “racial reckoning” that followed the death of George Floyd, CBS committed to devoting 25 percent of its development budget to buying programming from “black, indigenous and people of color” producers. It also pledged that its writers’ rooms, where TV shows are created, would be 50 percent BIPOC in time for the 2022-23 TV season.In one initiative, CBS partnered last year with the NAACP to produce a daytime soap opera called “Beyond the Gates,” which features a rich black family who live in a gated community. The soap opera now airs at 2 p.m. on most CBS stations on weekdays.The ‘SEAL Team’ program on CBS. CBSIn July 2020, Mr. Cheeks said that while “steady progress has been made in recent years both in front of and behind the camera,” it needs to “happen faster, especially with creators and leadership roles on the shows.”“As a network with ambitions to be a unifier and an agent of change at this important time, these new initiatives will help accelerate efforts to broaden our storytelling and make CBS programming even more diverse and inclusive,” he said. The company’s website used to read, “Paramount is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.” However, references to DEI have been scrubbed. Its “Inclusion & Impact” page, which used to reference “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” now simply refers to “inclusion” and “belonging.”Ten months ago, Messrs. Cheeks and Robbins were listed on Fortune’s inaugural LGBTQ+ Leaders list, where they praised DEI.David Ellison and the FCC’s Brendan Carr met in Washington to discuss Ellison’s planned acquisition of Paramount Global. Getty Images / Getty Images“As a media organization, we have an opportunity, and quite honestly, a responsibility, to attract LGBTQ+ creators and show authentic characters in a way that doesn’t feel performative. It needs to come from real understanding and experience,” Mr. Cheeks said.The two men said that they “believe that an intentional diversity, equity, and inclusion mindset is the way to make Paramount Global’s values sing out.”Paramount’s LinkedIn page shared the quotes and wrote that Messrs. Cheeks and Robbins “champion” DEI and see it “not only as a business need but as a social responsibility.”Just months later, in February, Paramount announced that it was rolling back its DEI hiring initiatives. Given Mr. Cheeks’s strong support of DEI just months before the decision, it appears unlikely that he had a sudden change of heart, and that the move was seen as a business necessity to win the FCC’s approval of the Skydance deal.An aerial view of the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. David McNew/Getty ImagesThen in April, CBS settled a major lawsuit brought by a writer for the now-canceled “SEAL Team” who argued he was denied a permanent job because he was a straight white male. His lawsuit was supported by America First Legal, a group founded by one of President Trump’s advisors, Stephen Miller. The chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, has stated that DEI initiatives could lead the commission to block mergers. It remains to be seen how long Mr. Cheeks will stay on at CBS, as he will likely have to oversee the enforcement of the rollback and elimination of the very policies he views as a “social responsibility.” Meanwhile, the Trump administration, which may not be done seeking concessions from Paramount, may look to pressure Skydance to remove Mr. Cheeks to ensure that the company has leaders who are fully on board with the push to eliminate DEI. Conservative activists have frequently found instances of institutions subtly changing job titles and descriptions to carry out diversity initiatives under another name, and it is a frequent concern that executives will pay lip service to the push to eliminate DEI while seeking to preserve the initiatives.Earlier this summer, the president of the University of Virginia resigned under pressure — from the federal government — due to his prior, aggressive support of DEI.

CBS Boss Who Imposed Racial Quotas Is Expected To Be Sole Surviving Co-Chief Executive After Merger Closes, Even as New Owner Vows To Eliminate DEI Policies

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