Thread regarding ViacomCBS layoffs

Must agree with oldboysclub. Observe the women on the lay off lists.This summer alone
Knowledgable/experienced/thought leaders/strong/assertive need not apply. Compare them with the men and other women who stay on..
Old boys certainly

Some a--hole, keeps deleting my posts. I will keep reposting. You will not win.

To the person who wrote about ACR, I see your code, very clever. These problem are not new. Somebody, very powerful is maybe protecting them for a very long time. That must be nice.

@cpte+1ul6CsEJ @musicguru – ACR is as cunning, ruthless and cutthroat as they come with regards to her career. She had a long term goal and stomped out anyone who caMe in the way or was a perceived threat. The coup de grace as Mentioned, was her sLicing off part of her team and leaving them to fend for themselves. Totally disgusting. What is sad is she is actually a smart business person but all the other stuff gets in the way.

@ctoz+1ul6CsEJ – you are correct in your assessment about bad behavior at lower levels. The main difference is that usually these employees (in most cases) can be weeded out. As for legal action, I can’t speak to class actions. However, I do know several people who contacted outside legal counsel because they were unhappy with HR’s response to complaints. One of them because of the actions of the person referenced earlier in this post. I’m not sure of the final outcomes so maybe there was some success. I only know those employees are no longer with the company.

@cqec+1ul6CsEJ – thank you for the summary. Took a screenshot to save in the event other posts are deleted.

@cwlf+1ul6CsEJ – so we know where more of the rot lies, are you able to provide any additional clues aside from the initials?

There seems to be a misunderstanding common in this thread which seems to suggest that abuse and corruption only exist at the top of the company. While these things are in fact at the top, the reality is that they are definitely at the bottom levels. Abusers are ingrained in the very fabric of these levels because they have gone unpunished due to staying off of corporate's radar- allowing them to think they're teflon. That's what civil and criminal courts are for, so take advantage. In fact, I think it's a wise idea to get together with active and former employees and file class action lawsuits from top to bottom against these perpetrators, be they active or not. If some of you have to go it alone in court, so be it. The main thing is that you get a pair of ba--s and take action. Be relentless and leave no stone unturned. We have a legal system for a reason.

I feel it's best to summarize the 200+ comments on this thread before some get deleted again because there are so many helpful comments on this thread.
This discussion, led by courageous employees, brings to light significant internal discontent regarding Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global, and his direct reports. The thread reveals an increasingly toxic work environment attributed to very poor leadership, favoritism, and gaslighting. Many participants express deep frustration, pointing to a pattern of behavior where personal connections and favoritism seem to trump merit, leading to a sense of dysfunction within the workplace. Most of the comments seem to be from MTVE employees who have been there for many years.

One of the central points raised in the thread is the alleged abusive behavior fostered by the senior leadership. Chris McCarthy, Nina Diaz, and Amy Campbell are seen as key figures in this perceived decline of workplace morale. Multiple contributors to the thread accuse these leaders of gaslighting—creating an environment where employees feel manipulated or confused about their position or standing within the company. According to the contributors, this kind of behavior has led to a climate of fear and insecurity, with employees unsure about the stability of their roles or the future of their careers at Paramount.

Another recurring theme is the problem of favoritism. Employees on the thread argue that promotions and opportunities seem to be reserved for those who are personally connected to the leadership, rather than based on merit or qualifications. This sense of nepotism not only creates an uneven playing field but also contributes to the growing disillusionment within the company. The complaints suggest that this favoritism has stifled the growth of talented individuals who are overlooked in favor of those with closer personal relationships with executives.

The discussion also touches on financial mismanagement and wasteful spending, with claims that resources are being directed towards unnecessary projects or personal pet projects of senior executives. This misuse of funds, coupled with the alleged toxic culture, has reportedly contributed to a loss of faith in the company's leadership and direction.

HR is also criticized in the thread, with employees expressing frustration at the lack of action from human resources to address their concerns. According to several contributors, complaints about the toxic work culture and abusive behavior have either been ignored or mishandled, leaving employees feeling unsupported. This failure of HR to act has only compounded the sense of helplessness among workers, leading to a growing call for whistleblowing.

The thread serves as a rallying point for employees who feel disempowered and mistreated, with many calling for whistleblowers to step forward and expose the alleged misconduct. There are mentions of encouraging media outlets to investigate the internal workings of Paramount Global, with the hope that external scrutiny might force the company to address these deep-seated issues. Some even suggest that bringing attention to these problems could lead to an overhaul of the leadership structure, which they believe is necessary for the company to recover.

The thread paints a picture of a company in turmoil. Employees lose trust in their leadership due to alleged gaslighting, favoritism, and overall poor management. The conversation underscores the need for significant changes within the company, with employees advocating for media attention and whistleblowing as potential catalysts for reform.

@musicguru - She is truly, truly, evil. She split off half her team right before the pandemic because she had a certain narcissistic, grandiose vision of herself as a music executive. (After several rounds of layoffs, not sure those who were kicked to the trash are still around.) This is an executive who preaches about cost efficiencies as she books a first class trip to Europe than cancels at the last minute costing $$$$. And that's the most frustrating part, she (and others) are directly responsible for our company's sad state, yet will survive to see its utter destruction.

To the person who posted about South Park, you're correct. The South Park creators play all sides for profit because they stand for nothing as evidenced by the low I.Q. content itself. As for the boosters, don't worry. The druids at Paramount are probably eager to display their ability to micro-manage employees' lives through up and coming Bird Flu and Monkey Pox 'vax' mandates. Let's also not forget the worthless masks. It's all about the display of dominance.

Really messed up all these biased people attacking CM just because he’s g-y.

I think it’s funny that Paramount employees don’t know that South Park is making fun of people just like them. For over 25 years. Go get another booster.

Don’t worry, Anonymous wondering what it’s like to be laid off. You’ll know soon! <3

He gutted showtime, Comedy Central, mtv etc and made them shells of what they used to be. And now he’s slowly starving streaming till it’s a skeleton by cutting programming budgets, axing tech/product, and setting the entire org, including both P+ and PlutoTV, on fire. No wonder we’re trailing. Skydance will be working with ashes from an urn. Good luck, babe!

I was kicked off a team in streaming after I got sick. My boss corroborated with HR and they found a way to kick me off a team immediately after I declared an illness. HR bent the rules and allowed my boss to hire someone during a hiring freeze and then kicked me off for no reason. This was immediately after I disclosed that I had seizures and I took days off for it.

To the snark poster a few down, I want laid off, left that dump for green pastures a while ago. Still have hate in my heart for them.

What is it like being laid off?

You get a big severance and then wind up at a company that treats you humanely and pays a competitive wage. It's great!

** Attention David Ellison**, Sir, this thread should give you an idea of the headache you are inheriting. Please think long term and make the executive decision to not MTV your Skydance. I now welcome all down votes.

This thread has more views than the TRL reboot

Hey guys, what’s it like being laid off 😂

Truly sad that people with real concerns are unable to express them in this forum because of the same dismissive fears we face in the office. Upper management at this organization has been known for gaslighting, bullying and abuse of staff and PBEs for decades. Let’s not even touch the “Making the Band” era…

From my seat, as an elder millennial, I have been able to excuse some abuse, or certain behavior, in our industry when the executives have experience I could learn from.
MTV international is quite the contrary. The person in charge of international digital has been referenced on this thread and has multiple HR allegations that were dismissed during an “investigation.” Today they still collect a paycheck, despite dozens of complaints, an embarrassing high turnover rate, and not having any more direct reports because of the due diligence of investigators finding this person abusive. So… it was decided that you were abusive enough to lose direct reports but not abusive enough to lose your job. Interesting.

Furthermore, when an abuser is also incompetent in their field, and a low-mid performer, it leaves many questions of the upper managements’ ability to distinguish a good leader. This person can’t identify a growing marketing strategy for the global social teams that is innovative or drives revenue. This person doesn’t care about the humans they manage that need hospital care because of the stress their abuse caused. This person also broke laws to withhold wages from multiple PBE hires that worked overtime to appease them, not because of company KPIs or earnings.

Something the new Skydance leadership should also be aware of is how incredible the rest of the digital/social team members are and that there is someone or something protecting the wrong person. There is a team of talent so impressive and irreplaceable, it’s keeping the life of the brand alive and part of current conversations. The real value is a brand’s voice, that appeals to advertisers and subscribers, since the content archive may or may not have expired. If the Skydance team want this company to succeed, they would talk to the workers. If they know the value of digital, (looking at you the 2024 VMAs aka the “Most social entertainment telecast recorded in TV history”)… they would remove the clueless leaders draining the swamp. MTV is a dying brand that can only move forward with exciting leadership and fresh vision.

Sadly, the messiness attributed to CmC is common in other areas as well. The head of the creative music services group is widely known for bullying, gaslighting and other toxic behavior. Business decisions are made solely for personal benefit. Anyone who dares to stand up to the behavior, speak up for themselves, or (most importantly) - anyone who is great at their job and is subsequently seen as a threat are always fired or laid off. The extreme favoritism when it comes to promotions, good job assignments, etc. Numerous complaints through the years warrants a slap on the wrist, a promise to do better than back at it and even worse after a short period of time. Until these execs are truly punished nothing is going to change.

The amount of complaints the HR department has been sitting on against MTV International leadership alone is inexcusable.

Someone posted this last week, just bumping it up-

EMAIL: benjamin.mullin@nytimes.com

When reaching out, say that you want to be ON BACKGROUND, have your name/job title PROTECTED, and be ANONYMOUS (unless you don't). The New York Times does NOT divulge sources and all conversations are strictly confidential!

Ben covers Paramount and other media companies, with a special focus on exposing bad behavior. Sound familiar?

https://www.nytimes.com/by/benjamin-mullin

Ben also posted on Reddit last week looking for whistle blowers. The time is NOW!

https://www.reddit.com/r/ParamountGlobalLayoff/comments/1f4dm7o/hi_from_the_new_york_times/

At now over 25,000 views, this thread has been seen by countless individuals, including current employees, former employees, business competitors, company partners, industry press, and even David Ellison himself.

This outpouring of discontent toward Chris McCarthy and the MTV Entertainment Studios team is evidence alone of how universally loathed they are. It’s also evidence of their ongoing misconduct within Paramount Global and how they continue to sew chaos and dysfunction throughout the organization.

And while many employees may soon be laid off, this crew of incompetent hacks won’t be too far behind once Skydance takes over. Good luck to each of them in their next opportunity. Your bad reputations will precede you.

Stop crying

The Long Island MTV NOC is so toxic with intimidation and hostility, that the building is now completely pest-free because the last cockroach hanged itself with a piece of dental floss.

Jacqueline Parkes literally popped champagne and celebrated huge premiere numbers in the hallways of 24 in front of ppl packing their desks after a nasty layoff.

Oh look! It seems the press team have been told to layoff on their chaotic responses now. Byeeeee.

Gaslighting & wasteful spending for sure! That’s what I remember anyway. We were told we’d keep our jobs after that horrific overspend @ Tutu Ctr years back. Disappointed that Francesca’s name came up in this.

It’s not my problem anymore. Hasn’t been for awhile. But, I do sympathize & empathize with those currently suffering. That’s a tough war to wage. But, fight on! I’m with y’all in spirit!

I just also want to shed light in particular on the abusive treatment of employees for MTV international.

I worked for a different department, but what I watched some of them go through during tentpoles was diabolical.

The 2017 VH1 layoffs were a massacre motivated by CM’s personal grievances and insecurities. Those layoffs were definitely personal.

Following up on the comment that CM loves laying people off… I remember a particularly brutal layoff at VH1 where CM gathered the survivors in a room and made a point of saying the layoffs were NOT bc of the budget. People were crying bc their friends just lost their jobs and he was up there saying he did it bc he wanted to.

I had to interview him once for some internal fluff-piece. Major SDE from him, and I'm sorry for anyone who has to deal with him on a regular basis.

I can’t even bring myself to look at Amy Campbell in meetings anymore. She and Chris should apologize to employees for inflicting so much damage through the years. This thread is a testament to their negative impact and how many people they’ve truly hurt.

Why isn’t anyone talking about how much CM loves to lay employees off personally? He’s called people on vacation and flown to satellite offices to lay off lower level employees in person (I’m looking at you, CMT in Nashville 2018). We have an HR department for that- and these people were not direct reports either.

My EVP plays favorites. She hired 2 people from her previous employer who she allows to telecommute from remote cities. Both these individuals don’t have job descriptions and they skirted by the HR hiring process. Insane.

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.