Despite the fact that Diddy is a successful business mogul, he still isn’t happy with the lack of black executives surrounding him at the top of the entertainment industry.
In a July 10 cover story with Variety, the REVOLT CEO harps on that exact sentiment. “You have these record companies that are making so much money off our culture, our art form, but they’re not investing or even believing in us,” Diddy says of hip-hop’s multi-cultural impact.
The 48-year-old still believes the entertainment industry is subject to segregation in 2018. “For all the billions of dollars that these black executives have been able to make them, [there’s still hesitation] to put them in the top-level positions. They’ll go and they’ll recruit cats from overseas.”
“It makes sense to give [executives of color] a chance and embrace the evolution, instead of it being that we can only make it to president, senior VP. There’s no black CEO of a major record company,” Combs explains. “That’s just as bad as the fact that there are no [black] majority owners in the NFL. That’s what really motivates me.” Diddy was a part of a group that made a run at the Carolina Panthers ownership but was ultimately outbid earlier in 2018.
Diddy identified several examples of companies successfully backing black-owned businesses and ideas in recent history. “When we do get the resources, we over-deliver. When Adidas invests in Kanye [West] and it’s done properly, you have the right results,” he contests. “When Live Nation invests in artists and puts them in arenas the same way U2 would be, you have the right results. Black Panther, Black-ish, fashion; it’s all about access. If you’re blocked out of the resources, you can’t compete.”
(source: billboard)
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