It is so ironic that now that Sheila Johnson is on the outside looking in she is ashamed of the network. She and her husband owned BET until 2000. So they were responsible for the content and they were the ones that allowed all the scantily clad women do their bootie shaking dances while the rappers called them bitches and hoes. For years people complained about what was going on at BET to no avail. Johnson said “Don’t even get me started, I don’t watch it. I suggest to my kids [a twentysomething daughter and a college-age son] that they don’t watch it… I’m ashamed of it, if you want to know the truth.”* BET was a source of shame before they sold it but they got paid well to turn over the network to Viacom and it is sad that she can now see the flaws, but when she was in the position to affect change she chose to look the other way while the booties were shaking.
*The Daily Beast
I actually feel for the former Mrs.Johnson. There is an excellent book about Robert Johnson that was published a few years ago by Brett Pulley a belive his name is. In that it tells how Sheila Johnson was a steadfast supporter of her then husband when he was struggling starting BET in 1980 to all of the battles he faced in getting the channel established. Later on he turned against her; firing her from the company and then having an affair with the future BET chairman Debra Lee. All of this happened before the selling of the company in 2000.
Also, shortly after the sale Sheila filed for divorce and took Bob Johnson’s ass to the cleaners, so musch that I believe she is a billionaire as well. She used her money to set up many charitable institutions and is the owner of the Washington Mystics of the WNBA (I’M not sure if she still is or if the team still exists) I remember in the early years that BET was a wonderful station that was well rounded and wasn’t just about videos. Unfortunately, that changed and well have a destructive entity against Black people in this country and the world now.