Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount pull back on DEI

WBD: https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/warner-bros-discovery-scale-back-dei-inclusion-1236322594/

Going forward, WBD’s “overarching work in this space will now be referred to as Inclusion,” according to a memo sent to staffers Thursday. The message, obtained by Variety, was sent to all global employees from head of HR Jennifer Remling and Asif Sadiq, who is now chief inclusion officer. Formerly, Sadiq’s title was “chief global diversity, equity and inclusion officer.”

The company, the two execs said, is making the changes to ensure “we continue to comply with the evolving legal landscape in the United States and around the world.” The memo was distributed Thursday, when Warner Bros. Discovery also reported fourth-quarter 2024 results.

Paramount: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/business/media/paramount-dei-policies.html

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 collecting gender and diversity data for many U.S. job applicants and eliminate the D.E.I. component of its employee incentive plan.