Al Roker and his production company, Al Roker Entertainment, have been sued for allegedly not following through with a commitment to diversity. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bill Schultz filed a lawsuit against the “Today” host and CEO’s company as he claims that executives failed to commit to its DEI initiative, which would bring Black writers on board for PBS’s “Weather Hunters.” Al Roker Entertainment is the owner of the animated children’s show. As an executive producer for “Weather Hunters,” Schultz addressed the issue at hand, confronting the leaders about the failure to adhere to the diversity program, which is mandated by PBS. However, he says that their response was firing him. In addition, a Black producer was also reprimanded for speaking up. “I put nine years of my career into ‘ Weather Hunters ,’ a project I strongly believe in, with the goal of making a wonderfully crafted show for children to enjoy and learn from,” Schultz shared in a statement, according to...

In 2020, advertisers jumped at the chance to show their support for Black people through numerous pledges to increase spending with Black-owned media. The million-dollar question three years later is, did they follow through on that promise?

It’s time for Black-owned media to have more control within the industry, and this first-of-its-kind collective is launching an inspiring initiative to help us accomplish that. Today, Group Media — a unique media collective and accelerator dedicated to the advancement of Black-owned media properties — has launched with a mission to increase Black ownership and help Black media conglomerates claim their rightful place in this space. Founding member companies of Group Black include ESSENCE, Holler, PlayVS, Afropunk, The Shade Room and Baller Alert. Additionally, Holler’s Travis Montaque joins as co-founder, director and CEO alongside serial entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis, Group Black’s co-founder and chairman. As part of its launch, Group Black is kicking off its buying power with an inaugural $75 million target media investment from GroupM, a press release reports, which is also part of its effort to deploy at least $500 million in Black-owned media by the end of next year. “Our...

Byron Allen wants Black-owned media to receive what’s rightfully theirs! According to Deadline , The Byron Allen Media Group (AMG) has sued McDonald’s Corp. for $10 billion in damages and alleges that the company has discriminated against Black-owned media. This comes as the high-profile businessman continues to come for big corporations who fail to give Black-owned media a fair shot when it comes to the distribution of massive advertising budgets. Filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, the lawsuit accuses the fast-food giant of both alleged racial stereotyping and refusing to contract with AMG’s Entertainment Studios and Weather Group in violation of federal and state law. The suit states that while African Americans represent about 40 percent of McDonald’s U.S. sales, African American-owned media receives less than $5 million out of its circulation of $1.6 billion in annual television advertising. In the lawsuit, AMG also alleges that the corporation’s refusal...

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs penned an open letter calling out corporate America, specifically General Motors (GM), for exploiting Black-owned media companies via his cable network’s entertainment and news site, REVOLT. In a letter titled, “If You Love Us, Pay Us,” Diddy exposes how corporations like General Motors falsely claim to support Black media companies like his own in an act that both robs them of advertising revenue and contributes to a history of systemic racism. “The same feet these companies use to stand with us in solidarity are the same feet they use to stand on our necks,” he writes, reports Blavity. The letter also calls additional attention to efforts from Byron Allen of Allen Media Group in which he and several other Black media companies took out a full page advertisement in the Detroit Free Press that directly blasted GM CEO Mary Barra for racism against said companies. While GM has claimed to be in support of companies like REVOLT, Diddy challenged that...

The revolution will be televised! Sean “Diddy” Combs has the Midas touch when it comes to longevity in an industry that most predicted wouldn’t be around forever. In 2020, reports revealed that Hip-Hop is America’s favorite and most influential genre thus far and the numbers don’t lie. Just like Diddy has an eye for musical talents, he has an eye for an executive team that will take his leading Black-owned media company, REVOLT, to revolutionary heights. Detavio Samuels and Colin McIntosh understand that they have a role to fulfill as the new leaders of REVOLT and they’re prepared to do it by any means necessary. “The mission is to create the largest Black global media empire that ever existed,” said Samuels, who has been appointed to CEO of the company, “and in that world, we can take care of our people.” McIntosh adds the title of Chief Operating Officer to his current position as  REVOLT’s Chief Financial Officer. “We want to build a platform for creators,” said McIntosh in an...