Skydance Media Doubles Down On Retraction Of DEI And FCC Circles Back To Approve Merger With Paramount
After vowing to retract DEI efforts, Skydance Media received the green light to merge with Paramount.
In February 2025, Paramount joined a list of companies that decided to scale back on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the company stated that it was going to align with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which centered on ending “illegal DEI” to preserve “civil rights and merit-based opportunity.” Actionable items included removing DEI-related factors, such as consideration in federal hiring, promotions, and performance reviews.
Paramount decided to eliminate race, ethnicity, sex, and gender as criteria for numerical goals, as well as policies requiring the collection of demographic data from U.S.-based job applications, unless legally mandated. Additionally, it took away DEI as a qualitative metric in its Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP). This accounted for 5% of the funding tied to representation goals. The company is instead allocating 10% of its STIP to support an inclusion and performance metric.
“With our business objectives firmly in mind, we will continue to evaluate our programs and approach to ensure that we are widening our aperture to attract talent from all geographies, backgrounds, and perspectives,” Paramount said in a press release shared with AFROTECH™ at the time. “That may mean expanding existing programs while ending others. As our policies continue to evolve in the future, we will be sure to share those updates with you.”
It added, “To be the best storytellers and to continue to drive success, we must have a highly talented, dedicated, and creative workforce that reflects the perspectives and experiences of our many different audiences. Values like inclusivity and collaboration are a part of the Paramount culture and will continue to be.”
Skydance Media Seeking To Merge With Paramount
Paramount’s stance also came amid a looming merger with Skydance Media that was awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). David Ellison, founder of Skydance Media, has affirmed that DEI programs at Paramount Global will remain a part of the past. In a letter from July 22, Skydance Media doubled down even further on this sentiment.
“Paramount no longer will maintain an Office of Global Inclusion and will not have any teams or individual roles focused on DEI,” Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance Media general counsel, wrote in a three-page letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Furthermore, McKinnon added that Paramount will eliminate “references to DEI in its public messaging, including on its websites and social media,” as well as remove DEI language in “internal messaging and training materials.”
Additionally in the letter, Skydance Media stated it will assess “complaints of bias or other concerns” in regards to CBS, a subsidiary of Paramount, to uphold “viewpoint diversity,” Variety reports.
“To promote transparency and increased accountability, Skydance also will commit, for a period of at least two years, to have in place an ombudsman who reports to the President of New Paramount, who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS,” McKinnon wrote, per Variety. “New Paramount’s executive leadership will carefully consider any such complaints in overseeing CBS’s news programming.”
FCC Approves Merger
On July 24, the FCC approved Skydance Media’s merger with Paramount, mentions NBC News. The deal is valued at $8 billion.
“Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly. It is time for a change,” Carr said in a news release, per the outlet. “That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network. In particular, Skydance has made written commitments to ensure that the new company’s programming embodies a diversity of viewpoints from across the political and ideological spectrum. Today’s decision also marks another step forward in the FCC’s efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
