Tyler Perry is ‘balking at the $3BILLION asking price’ for BET, is ‘becoming frustrated’

Tyler Perry is reportedly getting frustrated with the process of buying Black Entertainment Television as the asking price is said to be $3 billion.

The 53-year-old media mogul has expressed interest in buying the BET Group, which includes not only cable channels BET, VH1 and the BET streaming service.

Byron Allen and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are also contenders.

Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent and Kenya Barris, are in a rival group that also wants to buy the media holdings, but have recently lost the private equity group they partnered with and are looking for deep pockets elsewhere, according to the New York Post .

Perry is considered the front runner in the upcoming auction.

The Emmy winner already owns a 25 percent stake in BET and BET+ and has private equity providing the rest of the financing, an insider said.

Perry also produces much of the programming on the cable channel and streaming service he helped launch in 2019.

“He’s used to getting his way and frustrated,” the source said.

Adding to the frustration of the Ruthless creator is an erroneous report last week by the entertainment website The Streamer that Perry had already won the auction.

However, Perry and other potential investors have objected to the $3 billion asking price from BET Group’s current owner, Paramount.

The problem turned out to be multiple.

All major contenders have expressed interest in returning the BET group to black ownership.

Paramount wants about 10 times the BET Group’s current $325 million in revenue before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to sources.

Asking price: A source told the New York Post that Perry is shying away from the $3 billion asking price for the BET Group, which includes cable channels BET, VH1 and the BET streaming service

Shareholder: Perry already owns 25% of BET and handles much of the programming for the cable channel and streaming service (pictured in Los Angeles in February 2022)

Debt: Paramount has $15.6 billion in long-term debt, according to public records. An insider said a sale price below $3 billion would not allow the company to reduce its debt

Interested: Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Byron Allen have expressed separate interest in buying BET

Funding troubles: A group including Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent, and Kendra Barris expressed interest in buying BET, but recently lost the private equity group they partnered with

Deep pockets: Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is teaming up with O’Neal and 50 Cent to find another investment partner with deep pockets. He is already an investor in BET Studios (pictured in Los Angeles in March 2022)

Unfortunately, more and more viewers are abandoning cable in favor of streaming services, which could jeopardize future revenues.

Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures, the Paramount+ streaming service, has $15.6 billion in long-term debt as of March, according to public findings, the outlet reported.

The insider said anything below the $3 billion price point would not reduce Paramount Global’s debt.

Neither Perry nor Paramount have responded.

Diddy owns several media companies, including Revolt, a network rooted in hip-hop culture.

Allen bought the floundering Black News Channel for $11 million last August and instantly turned it into theGrio.

In a statement released at the time, the CEO of the Allen Media Group said, “The need for unfiltered African-American voices is greater today than ever before, and the Grio is 100 percent committed to strengthening our perspectives and culture globally.”