Paramount joins the major US companies rolling back diversity policies
Paramount Pictures Studio. (Getty)
Media production company Paramount has become the latest business to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, in the wake of an executive order signed by Donald Trump.
The corporation announced it would be eliminating staffing goals tied to race, ethnicity, sex and gender and would no longer collect gender and diversity data from the bulk of its US job applicants.
A memo sent to employees by co-chief executives Brian Robbins, George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy said that “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 difference audiences”.
The note went on to say: “Values like inclusivity and collaboration are a part of the Paramount culture and will continue to be.”
DEI programmes would still be evaluated to “ensure that we are widening our aperture, to attract talent from all geographies, backgrounds and perspectives”.
Paramount, whose portfolio includes CBS, Nickelodeon, Showtime and MTV, made the changes after president Trump took aim at DEI initiatives in the private sector and in federal agencies, in the early days of his second term in office.
The day Trump returned to the Oval Office, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed that DEI employees had been put on forced administrative leave, while the government had taken steps to “close/end all DEI initiatives, offices and programmes.”
Trump then signed a sweeping executive order, rolling back government DEI efforts, with the Department of Justice saying it would direct prosecutors to penalise and eliminate “illegal DEI” mandates across the private sector.
Several well-known brands, including McDonald’s, Ford and Harley-Davidson, have already rolled back or completely rescinded their DEI policies.
Other production companies have also scrubbed equality initiatives, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with Disney removing references to its “Reimagine Tomorrow” scheme, which began in 2021 as a way to amplify underrepresented voices in the industry.
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