Skydance to shut down Office of Global Inclusion and will not have any DEI-focused teams or roles
Skydance Media has made a commitment to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies at Paramount Global as it seeks to gain approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on its $8-billion merger.
Skydance General Counsel and Co-President of Business Operations Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon announced the commitment in a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr dated July 22.
"I write to confirm the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that were in place at Paramount and to confirm our commitments moving forward," McKinnon said in the letter.
She also said that Skydance does not have DEI programmes currently in place and will not establish such initiatives.
McKinnon's letter comes after Paramount made significant changes to its recruiting and hiring policies in February 2025 after the Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA) ruling, as well as the Trump administration's recent Executive Orders on DEI.
"We understand that Paramount also eliminated or modified DEI programmes across the company to ensure that they are consistent with the company's commitment to equal opportunity and governing law," McKinnon said.
Eliminating DEI at Paramount
But Skydance seeks to take Paramount's steps further and said the company will not engage in any DEI-related disparate treatment in hiring decisions, and will no longer set numerical goals related to the race, ethnicity, sex, or gender of job applicants or employee hires in the US.
"Instead, the company will focus on attracting talent from all geographies, backgrounds, and perspectives," McKinnon said.
The company will also no longer consider any DEI objectives in its compensation plans, and will no longer use race, ethnicity, sex, gender, or any other protected characteristics as criteria in any internal employee promotions.
"The company will continue to consider and award internal promotions based only on non-discriminatory criteria," McKinnon said.
Additionally, Paramount will also no longer maintain an Office of Global Inclusion and will not have any teams or individual roles focused on DEI.
References to DEI in its public messaging, including on websites and social media, and in the Paramount Global Business Conduct Statement will also be removed.
"Paramount will ensure all future messaging and recruitment initiatives do not disfavour any protected groups," the letter said.
Approval sought for merger
The elimination of DEI policies at Paramount comes as Skydance seeks to gain the FCC's approval for their $8-billion merger.
It is a move similarly taken by T-Mobile in its bid to gain approval for two transactions, after the FCC greenlit Verizon's deal to buy broadband provider Frontier Communications after ending its DEI policies.
Additionally, Skydance announced in a separate letter to the FCC that it is hiring an ombudsman who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias involving CBS following allegations of media bias against the Paramount-owned broadcaster.
"Skydance believes that its acquisition of Paramount will generate significant efficiencies and have a substantial positive impact on the future of broadcasting," McKinnon said.
"We submit that these voluntary commitments should provide comfort that New Paramount will operate the CBS Network in a manner consistent with the public interest."
