BET’s President Louis Carr Cites God As The Reason Behind Budding Career While Taking Network To New Heights

Carr took over for former BET leader Scott Mills after serving for roughly 40 years at the popular network, with a majority of his tenure leading as president of media sales.

With only 90 days under his tenure, new President of Black Entertainment Television (BET) Louis Carr spoke with Forbes senior writer Jabari Young on The Enterprise Zone at Nasdaq MarketSite about the future of the network’s programming under Paramount Skydance, the challenges of operating during a period of shifting, and giving God all the credit for his 30-year career.

Young started the conversation by highlighting the drama in the world, ranging from an unstable economy to a budding war. But when asked about how he stays motivated, Carr said “God’s been better than good.” He continued to provide an executive summary of his role in his new position, which he assumed in December 2025. “I educate people on Black culture, Black lifestyle, and the influence it has on the broader community,” he said.

“I think that when you think about some of the misinformation and sort of the deception you see in our communities, it’s because people are not informed. They don’t understand. They’re getting wrong information and they’re only getting half of the information.”

Carr took over for former BET leader Scott Mills after serving for roughly 40 years at the popular network, with a majority of his tenure as president of media sales. In that role, he generated over $10 billion in advertising revenue. When asked about his feelings when offered the job, Carr said it came as a complete surprise. “I didn’t see it coming,” he said.

“What I saw was: I’ve had an amazing career. It’s time to go do something else.”

That something else is leading to a range of new opportunities at BET, including the revival of popular award shows, stand-up comedy, and more. That’s Carr’s way of making sure the uninformed stay informed. “One of the things is we’ve decided the lanes we’re going to play in. Those lanes are community, culture, and connection. I think brands that serve Black consumers have to be engaged in the community. They expect that, they expect to be seen, they expect to be heard, they expect to be respected, and they expect to be understood,” the Chicago native said.

“And we do that 24 hours a day. And you know our brand was created and led by Black culture, and that’s what we do probably better than anybody else.”

During the conversation, he credited mentors such as BET Founder Robert Johnson and BLACK ENTERPRISE‘s Founder Earl Graves Sr. for helping shape his approach to leadership throughout his career, labeling the history makers as “waymakers.” He was pushed into sales by a close friend, which led him to work for Johnson Publishing Company and then BE prior to being recruited to BET.

And he stayed.

Young touched on the importance of longevity in one’s career, as it speaks volumes about how Carr got where he is. Carr said the secret to being successful in one place is “reinvention and change.” “Being able to adapt to change, being able to reinvent yourself, being able to understand what’s next, whether that’s in technology, in process, or in systems,” he admitted.

“And I think because our community continues to evolve, our consumers continue to have impact, it wasn’t really difficult. That’s what kept me there for almost 40 years.”