Paramount Backs off D.E.I. Policies
Paramount said that it would rethink its approach to diversity equity and inclusion in light of a growing backlash against D.E.I. policies driven by the Trump administration.
In a note to employees obtained by The New York Times, Paramount’s co-chief executives said they were making changes to the company’s D.E.I. policies to conform to efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate diversity programs in the federal government and the private sector.
The administration’s policies, the note said, “require changes in the way the company approaches inclusion moving forward.”
Paramount is ending its practices of using aspirational hiring goals related to race, ethnicity, sex or gender, said the memo, which was sent by the co-chief executives Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy. The company will also stop gathering gender and diversity data on many U.S. applicants and eliminate D.E.I. The memo stated that the company would continue to evaluate its programs and approach in order to ensure we are able to attract talent from different backgrounds, geographies and perspectives. “That may mean expanding existing programs while ending others.”
Paramount’s pronouncement on Wednesday makes it the latest company to rethink its approach to D.E.I. Since President Trump’s inauguration in January, major companies have made similar changes to their diversity and inclusion initiatives. Major companies including Target, Walmart, Meta and Disney have made similar changes to their diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Paramount has a multibillion-dollar merger with the Hollywood studio Skydance pending review by the Federal Communications Commission, whose chairman, Brendan Carr, has been critical of D.E.I. policies. Mr. Carr said in a letter to Comcast this month that he was investigating such policies at the cable giant with an eye toward eliminating “invidious forms of discrimination” across the media sector.
Paramount has already begun scrubbing examples of D.E.I. Paramount has already begun removing examples of D.E.I. The company has removed the phrase “Global Inclusion” from its D.E.I. The company’s annual financial filing will no longer include the phrase “Global Inclusion” on the page with the header. The archived version Paramount’s D.E.I. website from May underscores the extent of the company’s about-face.
“We embed D.E.I. The page stated that “We embed D.E.I. The page read: “Including specific programs that strengthen how we recruit, develop, retain, and measure our progress.”
