Thread regarding ViacomCBS layoffs

oldboysclub has an excellent point - everything in the company is based on fear. The pep boys and their minions have become masters in utilizing it to their advantage.

It seems there is a Machiavelian act on the air.
At the Paramount town, all is going bad. Word of a new overlord has traveled far bringing hope and uncertainty. The new lord knows the challenge ahead and sent word to the leader(s) to clean the house. (the opposite will happen otherwise it wouldn't be that bad pure psychology). When he gets there things are worse ...only the most needed villagers are left to serve the officials. Here he lays the sword right and left punishing all misdoings and all villagers sees him as a hero.

We are the nephews, nieces and cousins of cmc. We all have jobs at mtv. Resistance is futile we will assimilate you all into our collective

From a legal standpoint, the spousal relationship between Francesca Batista and Timothy Livezey, and the family relationship between Nina Diaz and Elena Diaz is a significant liability for Paramount Global, particularly if from my understanding, these employees work in the same division and/or team.

In a corporate setting, prohibiting married couples and family members from working on the same team is justified by concerns related to conflict of interest, perceived favoritism, and potential disruptions to team dynamics.

These concerns include but are not limited to the following:

1. Conflict of Interest and Favoritism: Allowing married couples and family members to work together may lead to real or perceived favoritism, where other team members believe that the couple receives preferential treatment or promotions. This perception can undermine team morale and trust, impacting overall productivity and fairness.

2. Disruption to Team Dynamics: Personal conflicts or tensions between a married couples and family members could negatively affect team cohesion and performance. Disputes or disagreements might spill over into the workplace, disrupting team effectiveness and collaboration.

3. Confidentiality and Security Risks: Marital and family relationships may increase the risk of confidential information being inadvertently shared. This could jeopardize sensitive business data and compromise the company’s security and competitive advantage.

4. Legal and Ethical Considerations: While such policies must comply with anti-discrimination laws, they are generally designed to maintain fair and unbiased work environments, rather than discriminate based on marital status.

Overall, restricting married couples and family members from working on the same team is a preventative measure aimed at safeguarding the company’s operational integrity and ensuring a fair, effective workplace.

This isn't just a problem at the SLT level, toxicity is much deeper than that. Take stock of all hiring that occurred with conflict of interest especially in streaming.

There are now SVP’s who only hired friends/family friends for VP’s & Director roles even with potential candidates within the team. They took advantage of an org situation and somehow with then HR help was able to hire even noting the clear conflict of interest. Doing personal favors through promotions, including skip level for the so-called friends. While the outsiders are exploited for their skills with a promise of promotions or better growth that don’t materialize. Passive aggressive behaviors are showcased in private which intimidate the employee so much so one feels trapped with a golden handcuff because they have a family to feed.

Yet somehow these kind of people still get sent to expensive conferences, burn millions of dollars without any value to showcase. Only thing gathered is they must be really good at corporate politics that probably their bosses don’t notice while they stomp on other people’s livelihood.

To old boys club, you’re post is what this forum needs and hopefully some good could come out of it.

It's other divisions of Paramount too. It's an old boys club and favoritism is rampant. If you're not "in," there is no chance of advancing. And if you're a woman, forget it, unless maybe you're in a cushy "womanly" role like HR or handling T&E invoices. I've seen women who are so dedicated and knowledgable routinely overlooked and stuck in positions where they are massively overqualified while male counterparts appear to be fast-tracked and gain a higher title yearly. Does it happen everywhere? Yes. But it doesn't make it right and especially not for a company that claims to be so progressive.

I've also witnessed an environment where everything is based on fear. Important information is kept to tight inner circles by design and you have nothing but drips and drabs to go on. You're "encouraged" to ask questions, but everyone knows that you're really not allowed to because it shows you're somehow incapable, so you're set up for failure no matter what. It doesn't help that the fear-based model encourages a workplace snakepit, with people throwing others under the bus any chance they get, thinking it will curry favor.

I've often thought it had to be one of the most unhealthy working environments around and reading many comments here, it seems to be a common experience.

I'm also not sure how many other major companies announce impending layoffs and have multiple waves where staff have to wait an entire summer, Sept and until the end of Dec. just waiting to see if they are affected. The cruelty is the point, I suppose.

For anyone who missed this gem of a profile on CMC’s digs posted earlier. This, but sure let’s fire coordinators to cut costs.

https://aninteriormag.com/messana-ororke-reshapes-apartment-open-materially-sophisticated-loft/

Now Google: Christian Bale’s apartment in ‘American Psycho’

For anyone who has any questions, this thread absolutely has validity. Don’t listen to those who are trying to derail this conversation.

As a refresher:

Chris McCarthy, Nina Diaz, Amy Campbell and many others have created an organization based on nepotism, nefarious business practices and bullying. Their minions have taken their ways of working onwards and are spreading them through the organization. Some
comments are being deleted from this thread but don’t let that stop you posting your stories of how those involved have helped create this poisonous regime. We will keep collecting screenshots.

Press organizations are taking notice.

Don’t be silenced.

isn’t it interesting how all the counter comments are popping up again today, but took a little break on Sunday afternoon and evening? It’s like a press team are back at work today, after taking a break on Sunday.

Funny, my post about Production HR (Talia Robinson and Tim Farrell) was deleted. Posts are definitely being deleted!

When a few people speak negatively about a workplace or its leadership, it can sometimes be dismissed as disgruntled employees venting frustration, possibly over losing their jobs. But when a large number of people from different departments share the same negative experiences, it's a clear sign that something deeper and more harmful is at play.

I've been with this company for almost a decade, and I've seen firsthand the dedication and hard work of so many people, as well as the strong support they’ve shown one another. What has unfolded in the past few months has been shocking. Years of effort and progress were undone in a matter of months by the very team everyone is concerned about. The toxic environment had always been there to some extent, but ever since this toxic team took control of other departments, it’s only spread further. Of the three new CEOs, one stood out the most—not in a positive way, but very negatively, as they allowed this toxicity to flourish unchecked.

I'm surprised no one's talking about #22 in Kevin Jordan's lawsuit because it was the epitome of employment discrimination:

"22. In or about July 2017, Ms. Parkes appointed a white woman Sarah DeFilipis to lead the digital/social department of the three networks, over a senior, more qualified and experienced African American man."

The "African American man" must refer to Orlando Lima who was forced out of the company shortly thereafter. Lima was a VP at VH1 prior to CMC. He'd put together an efficient social/digital department that made profitable content. He had a diverse team and promoted multiple (African American) women to Director.

When VH1 and Logo were combined, Jacqueline Parkes demoted Lima without cause. She handed the department over to DeFilipis and made her Lima's boss, even though DeFilipis had no creative experience, and less management experience and seniority than Lima.

DeFilipis was grossly unqualified for the position. Her incompetence with creative, budgets and management ended up tanking the department. Most of the African American employees Lima had hired ended up getting laid off or forced out because DeFilipis targeted them. It was common knowledge that DeFilipis and Parkes didn't like working with African American women. They intentionally demeaned them and attempted to make them quit so the company wouldn't have to pay severance.

Before CMC, there were several African American VPs at VH1 but they were all terminated for "budget cuts" or "expired contracts." Lima was the last African American VP to survive and he too was wrongfully sacked. Once he left, almost all the VPs (and up) that reported into CMC were white. How do you explain that when VH1's shows were targeted at African Americans?

https://www.scribd.com/document/455609392/Jordan-v-Viacom

Posts are definitely being deleted. I have the screenshots to prove it.

Several employees have noted that, earlier tonight, there were over 200 comments on this thread. Now, there are 165 comments.

If this thread is being moderated, we ask that you kindly do not delete posts that share personal accounts of misconduct or resources employees can use to report these abuses.

Thank you.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Ben Mullin
benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com

THR
Kim Masters
Kim.masters@thr.com

You can be on background and remain anonymous without using your name or title.

OPENLINE
Report workplace misconduct with protections.

openline.paramount.com

Responding to the comment below...

Employees ARE talking and going on record through the various avenues mentioned, however, this forum is anonymous by design. And in just four days, it's sparked conversation at over 18,000 views and getting widespread attention. It's a start, not a resolution.

But yes, I agree that there has to be follow through. The hostile workplace created by Chris McCarthy and his MTV Entertainment Studios team will NOT get fixed here. There has to be further action.

To those with real gripes, I feel you. To everyone else, I don’t remember the case where any real change was made based off lots of anonymous claims on a layoff board. The whole metoo movement had people putting their names to things. Please do reach out to any reporters mentioned, but unless your leads go somewhere and you can recommend other witnesses to back your claims, this ain’t going anywhere. CM team is leaving in a few months so what does it matter? No one is going to hire them and they know it. Look at Dan Schneider. He hasn’t gone anywhere and the doc on him came after a few years of unemployment already for him (not that he needs extra cash). It’s like saying let’s get the captain of the titanic while the ship is sinking. What’s the point? We’re all sc--wed except he has a lifeboat this time.

The EEOC would be very interested in hearing about any discrimination cases/incidents or retaliation claims. That agency can approve a discrimination lawsuit:

https://www.eeoc.gov/how-file-charge-employment-discrimination

Below is another excerpt from JORDAN V VIACOM.

If you are a person of color and believe you have been discriminated against within Paramount and/or on Amy Campbell’s MTV Entertainment Studio marketing team, please speak out.

—

31. On or about December 12, 2017, just a few weeks after Ms. Parkes told Mr. Jordan he had done a good job and just days after the higher-than-anticipated response to ANTM and the record-breaking premiere of Black Ink Crew New York, Mr. Jordan met with Ms. Parkes for a performance review. Less than a month after Ms. Parkes had praised his work, Ms. Parkes now told him he was no longer worth the money was being paid.

32. On February 6, 2018, Mr. Jordan was called into a meeting with Ms. Parkes. Ms. Parkes informed him that his position was being eliminated due to a “re-org.” No other explanation was given. Two of the four people fired from the creative and production department in the “re-org” were the only senior African American employees left in the department.

33. Within days of the termination of Mr. Jordan’s employment, Justin Russell, the white VP Creative Director of the struggling MTV, was promoted to Senior Vice President. He and his white supervisor, Thomas Berger, also at MTV, took over running the Creative Departments of all three channels.

I’m saddened to see this devolving into name calling because so much of what has been shared here are genuinely traumatic and honest accounts of the current company culture. I am a 20+ year employee who has been through many leadership changes and have never seen anything like what I’ve experienced in the last year. The individuals working under Chris M. operate with zero integrity or professionalism and are not qualified for the roles they occupy. Worse than that, as “I used to like my job” highlighted, they won’t allow the people who are experts in their respective fields to do their jobs. People have spent their whole career acquiring the skills and knowledge to be effective and we are being abused and dismissed in favor of staff who lack a basic understanding of the business of a streaming org.
It’s also worth noting that, in addition to CM manipulating research and numbers to a degree that surely qualifies as falsifying data, he presented a Showtime sizzle reel at a recent town hall complete with work that was not Paramount produced throughout. It was scrubbed from the link sent around following the meeting, but content from competitors in the marketplace was prominent throughout. Mortifying to the legacy Showtime team that had nothing to do with the creation of that reel despite being intimately familiar with those titles and the brand.

The hostile workplace at The Ellen Degeneres Show was bad enough for NBC to pull the plug. It happened because employees spoke up. Now it’s time for Paramount employees to do the same.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/ellen-employees-allege-toxic-workplace-culture

@The Strategist. Maybe, but that doesn’t detract from the claims of abuse, cronyism, unprofessionalism, and taking credit for things that you had nothing to do with. Also, their behavior pre-dates any sell…so it’s not totally relevant.

I'm a former Asian contract employee and worked ViacomCBS (Paramount) from 2019 – 2021.

I worked on Amy Campbell's catastrophic AAPI Month campaign and it was the most traumatic experience of my professional career. Many AAPI team members were reduced to tears because of her and Justin Russell's white Creative Director who shut down our ideas. He was later removed from the project and the AAPI team members were forced to continue on the project and finish the work. This was a very hard time for all of us.

To one of the earlier commenters, this is not some "Gen Z bandwagon". Why are you discounting real stories about racism, one of which was proven with court documents in an earlier post?

Replying to the below comment- maybe it’s intentional by those 3 CEO’s to hand out a poor operation / organization to the new buyer. Everything in business has an agenda and behind the scenes plays that we don’t know about ..

There are all kinds of great examples from the past on why this is a news story. The current news-worthy story is this:

Four years ago the Streaming organization was set up, building on CBS All-Access, launching Paramount+ and continuing the great work on Pluto TV and Showtime. In that time there have been multiple rounds of changes including Paramount+ and Showtime being merged.

This organization was always intended to be a loss-leader, but surprised everyone by achieving profitability way before it was meant to, with $470M of profits last quarter.

The streaming marketing teams and creative teams have seen their work lauded with awards.

The investment has proven to be worth it.

However the 3 CEOs don’t represent the streaming parts of the organization. These CEOs have chosen to downsize the organization before the new owners come in. (It feels weird this is needed when a billionaire is selling to another billionaire but ok, sure.) And they’re choosing to gut the very part of the organization that had proven to be succeeding.

And, it’s the way that they’re going about it which is unfair. They’re choosing their own people to run things. People who aren’t specialists in their roles. People who don’t have much experience doing the scope of the work. The streaming team was put together to do the work which is demanded by the pressures of modern business, and they’re excelling at it, but these experts are being forced out. The ones highlighted in this post are being elevated when they don’t deserve it.

Currently we are seeing folk being asked to work on projects who haven’t even watched a second of the shows in question, replacing those who have been deeply embedded with the shows for many years. Press, marketing and strategy employees who have built up years of relationships with producers being replaced by friends of executives who don’t understand the history. Teams who don’t understand the needs of marketing the shows being asked to replace experts who do.

Coupled with the poisonous nature of some of the executives in charge and the other news stories on this thread, you can see why the wrong people are being put into power.

And there is no one fighting for the successful teams - there is no one representing Streaming.

This is a wrong that needs to be righted before paramount loses the talent to do the work needed to survive. If not, Sky Dance will have bought a much poorer organization that the one it initially invested in.

I’d like to provide guidance to employees who want to speak to the media from someone who has done it herself. So far, I have talked to one outlet regarding all the said abuses and misconduct under Chris McCarthy’s leadership, specifically with Amy Campbell’s MTV team.

I did this before journalists like The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter showed interest. What I did first was Google search for investigative journalists in entertainment from the main trades (THR, Deadline, Variety, etc.). Google provided results and I went to those various trade websites, which mostly all have journalist bios, alongside their X handle and emails.

Then I reached out to one journalist anonymously on a burner email account and shared some details of what is happening. In that email, I told them I want to be on background and have my name and job title anonymous. They of course agreed and we set up a phone call.

This story WILL die if people don’t come forward and talk to the media! It can’t just be one person. The idea that a publication is going to publish your name and job title and 'out' you is unheard of and would NEVER happen. Whistleblowers are LEGALY PROTECTED. We all have a responsibility to talk at this point. It’s now or never!

OK boomer. Be more patronizing. Keep accidentally proving this thread to be correct. Real smart.

Hello,

I was also sent a text message asking me to post something negative about an executive that I’ve never met.

This post holds no validity. Stop trying to get people to jump on your “gen z cancel bandwagon.”

This is not how it works. You guys are all making yourselves look silly.

For the person who asked about the epic list of the ways Chris is not creative. It was not deleted.

https://www.thelayoff.com/post/@gnm+14IwVQBK

It takes some real ba--s for this guy to go around taking credit loudly for Dexter and billions.

People stop saying he greenlit Yellowstone. No he did not. He was not in charge of paramount network at the time. All he greenlit was, you guessed it, the sequels.

Look how far back it goes, the toxic culture on top of the complete non creativity. This is not new. He just has more and louder and more powerful flying monkeys now.

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/Q1UgsdF#OP

When a few people speak negatively about a workplace or its leadership, it can sometimes be dismissed as disgruntled employees venting frustration, possibly over losing their jobs. But when a LARGE number of people from different departments share the same negative experiences, it's a clear sign that something deeper and more harmful is at play.

I've been with this company for almost a decade, and I've seen firsthand the dedication and hard work of so many people, as well as the strong support they’ve shown one another. What has unfolded in the past couple of months has been shocking. Years of effort and progress were undone in a matter of couple of months by the very same names people have mentioned about on earlier post . The toxic environment had always been there to some extent, but ever since this toxic team took control of other departments, it’s only spread further. Of the three new CEOs, one stood out the most—not in a positive way, but very negatively, as they allowed this toxicity to flourish unchecked.

Below is an excerpt from JORDAN V VIACOM.

It details how Chris McCarthy and Amy Campbell inserted white leadership above Jordan who had no demonstrated knowledge of African American audiences and Vh1 content. Under McCarthy and Campbell, Jordan was soon forced to take creative feedback from the white executives.

This is a systemic issue with McCarthy and Campbell. They regularly subject marketing employees to gaslighting and sabotage masked as ‘feedback’ from executives and team members with no understanding of specific shows and audiences, even those shows which cater to minority groups.

—

19. “In or about October 2016, Mr. McCarthy was promoted to President of VH1, MTV. In or about January 2017, Jane Olson, a white woman, who by her own admission did not watch VH1 programs and was unfamiliar with the programming culture and audience, was hired by Viacom as Senior Vice President of VH1 and Logo and inserted above Mr. Jordan in the management hierarchy. Although Mr. McCarthy told Mr. Jordan that Ms. Olson was hired to help him manage business issues not to make creative decisions, Mr. Jordan soon found himself answering to Ms. Olson on creative decisions.”

20. “In or about late January 2017 another white woman, Jacqueline Parkes, who had been hired as CMO of MTV in 2016 and who also had no knowledge or understanding of VH1’s programs or its audience, was named the Chief Marketing Officer of VH1, Logo and MTV. Mr. Jordan began reporting to Ms. Olson who reported to Ms. Parkes, another layer of white management over him and the VH1 brand.”

21. On or about May 31, 2017, the only African American woman among the writer/producers on Mr. Jordan’s team was fired with no input from him or any notice to him.”

Below is just one excerpt takes from JORDAN V VIACOM.

It details how Chris McCarthy and Amy Campbell placed white leaders above Jordan who had no familiarity with Vh1 programming or audiences. Jordan soon had to answer to them creatively.

This is a systemic issue under Chris and Amy. It's 'creative by committee' and marketing employees are regularly subject to feedback from team members with little to no understanding of shows or specific audiences.

DOES THAT RING A BELL, EMPLOYEES?

"In or about October 2016, Mr. McCarthy was promoted to President of VH1,
MTV. In or about January 2017, Jane Olson, a white woman, who by her own admission did not watch VH1 programs and was unfamiliar with the programming culture and audience, was hired by Viacom as Senior Vice President of VH1 and Logo and inserted above Mr. Jordan in the management hierarchy. Although Mr. McCarthy told Mr. Jordan that Ms. Olson was hired to help him manage business issues not to make creative decisions, Mr. Jordan soon found himself answering to Ms. Olson on creative decisions."

Your report can remain ANONYMOUS: (Conflicts of Interest, Finance...)
Please take your time and provide as much detail as possible.
openline.paramount.com

It's comical how the Paramount opposition has resorted to taunting and can't muster up a plausible defense against the said abuses on this thread.

Read it and weep, Liza. 😭

https://www.scribd.com/document/455609392/Jordan-v-Viacom

The post below is an intimidation tactic to silence employees. Don't be fooled, folks.

https://www.scribd.com/document/455609392/Jordan-v-Viacom

"This document is a complaint filed in federal court by Kevin Jordan against Viacom International Inc. Jordan, a highly skilled African American advertising executive, alleges he was discriminated against and subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of his race while employed at Viacom. Jordan claims he was very successful in his role at VH1 but faced barriers from white employees placed above him who did not understand the network's audience. After complaining about race discrimination, Jordan claims Viacom retaliated against him and ultimately terminated his employment. Jordan is suing Viacom for violations of federal and state anti-discrimination laws."

https://www.scribd.com/document/455609392/Jordan-v-Viacom

The press is run by these corporations you clowns. Have you learned nothing?!

SOMEONE ANSWERING: Hi, Liza 👋 Don't worry, I'm on my way out. I just want to be vocal about the toxic workplace before I exit.

Did you do that when you left The Weinstein Company? Please advise.

SOMEONE ANSWER: why do you still work there if it’s so horrible?