Paramount TV Chief Is Latest Exec to Be Fired Over Alleged Racist Remarks

Paramount Television president Amy Powell has been fired after apparently making a racially insensitive remark in the workplace, according to Variety. Powell has worked at Paramount for 14 years, and has vigorously denied the allegation. “There is no truth to the allegation that I made insensitive comments in a professional setting — or in any setting,” Powell said in a statement, per Variety. “The facts will come out and I will be vindicated.”

Her firing was announced Thursday by Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos, who sent a memo to staffers.

“Having spent the past several days conducting a thorough investigation into this matter and speaking to those who were present, our Human Resources and Legal teams came to the same conclusion, and we have made the decision to terminate Amy’s employment, effective immediately,” Gianopulos wrote in the memo, Variety notes. “While it is incredibly difficult to part ways with a valued member of our community, it is imperative that we uphold our values and ensure that all employees feel safe and included in the workplace.”

Powell is reportedly considering legal action. A source told Variety that the alleged incident took place during a conference call about Paramount’s series adaptation of the First Wives Club, to be written and executive produced by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip). Powell apparently “made statements about black women being angry for various reasons“ during the call, Variety notes. Producer Karen Rosenfelt and others were present in the meeting, as was an African-American assistant to a different TV exec; the assistant complained about Powell’s comments to higher-ups at the studio. Powell was, reportedly, referring to (and displeased with) a recent tweet sent by Oliver, who is black. The writer and producer was criticizing the lack of representation among decision-makers in Hollywood, saying “A black female voice doesn’t matter if the decision makers don’t understand nor even want to understand what you’re saying.”

Powell worked on numerous buzzworthy shows during her time at Paramount, most recently Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and TNT’s The Alienist. Her firing is just the latest in a recent rash of high-powered executives being let go for allegedly making racist remarks behind closed doors. In late June, Netflix communications spokesman Jonathan Friedland was fired after reportedly using the N-word twice on two occasions with company staffers. Friedland, who worked at Netflix for seven years, said in a statement that he “was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy. I feel awful about the distress this lapse caused to people at a company I love and where I want everyone to feel included and appreciated. I feel honored to have built a brilliant and diverse global team and to have been part of this collective adventure in building the world’s leading entertainment service.”

And just last week, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter resigned after admitting to using the N-word during a conference call with marketing agency Laundry Service. Schnatter, whose image is inextricably linked to the pizza company, has since released a statement saying he thinks “it was a mistake” to resign. “Our company has demonstrated that it does not know how to handle a crisis based on misinformation,” he wrote. “I will not allow either my good name or the good name of the company I founded and love to be unfairly tainted.”

And though this isn’t quite on the exec beat, ABC also made waves this spring, when it announced that it had canceled Roseanne after star Roseanne Barr made racist remarks about former President Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. In a tweet, Barr said Jarrett, who is black, looked like the “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.” Barr has since blamed Ambien and frustratedly claimed that she actually thought, at the time, that Jarrett was white.

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