Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent and Kenya Barris bond together over talks to buy BET… but they face stiff competition from Diddy and Tyler Perry
Shaquille O’Neal, 50 Cent and Kenya Barris are reportedly in business to try to buy Black Entertainment Television, better known as BET.
The 51-year-old basketball legend is working with the 47-year-old rapper and the 48-year-old Black-ish creator to put together enough funds to make the deal work, according to TMZ.
Sources with direct knowledge told the publication that the trio were seen dropping by the Paramount offices in New York City earlier this week.
They reportedly talked business and felt out the possibility of a sale.
The three have their work cut out for them, as they’ll be going up against Diddy and Tyler Perry, both of whom are interested in buying the network and who have similarly deep pockets.
Shaq, 50 Cent and Kenya are reportedly ready to cough up a significant amount of their own fortunes to take control of the network, but they’ll also be working with the investment firm CVC Capital Partners to get to whatever the final asking price is.
However, one source cautioned that the sale would be a long process, and it wasn’t at all certain that the three stars would be the winning bidders.
‘It’s not a done deal, but they’re deep in it,’ they said.
