In what has been heavily rumored, Paramount Global Co-CEO and President and CEO of Paramount and Nickelodeon, Brian Robbins, has confirmed that he is leaving the company following Skydance’s acquisition of the entertainment conglomerate.
Robbins' announced his departure in a memo to staff on Wednesday, August 6, in which he reflected on his time at the company:
Subject: Thank YouTeam,I’m writing today to share with you that I am departing as Co-CEO of Paramount Global, and President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. As my time with the company comes to a close, I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to all of you.When I first walked onto the Paramount Pictures lot as a young filmmaker many years ago, I never imagined I’d one day be entrusted with leading this storied studio. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to work alongside such an extraordinary group of people – creators, executives, teams – whose passion and dedication continue to inspire me every day.As I reflect on our time together, we’ve jointly experienced an incredible amount of change and transformation. Through global disruptions, shifting audience behaviors, and major industry evolution, your perseverance and creativity never wavered. You stayed focused, resilient, and committed to our shared mission: telling great stories that captivate audiences. With commitment and care, we brought new life to our studio’s franchises, expanded into new platforms, and strengthened our footprint across film, television, streaming, and consumer products.At Paramount Pictures, we’ve continued to build on a legacy of great entertainment while pushing forward with fresh voices and ambitious ideas. You’ve helped bring to life stories that entertain, resonate, and endure, and reminded audiences why theatrical matters – why shared experiences in dark rooms still have the power to unite. We’ve reinvigorated beloved properties and expanded franchises, including Sonic the Hedgehog, Scream, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, A Quiet Place, and Mission: Impossible. We championed bold new films like Smile and Bob Marley: One Love, and delivered new takes on classic films like Mean Girls and The Naked Gun – and of course – this team is behind the highest-grossing film in the studio’s history, Top Gun: Maverick. In the wake of Covid, we led the charge bringing audiences back to theaters at a time when the world longed for connection and community, leading to a record-breaking year in the studio’s history.At Nickelodeon, I’m especially proud of how we honored the iconic heritage of the brand while building new connections with today’s generation through innovative content, smart digital strategy, and deep franchise expansion – from SpongeBob and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Dora to PAW Patrol and beyond. Also, our groundbreaking and Emmy® Award-winning simulcasts of the NFL Playoff and Super Bowl games set the bar for massive engagement with a younger generation during these landmark sporting events. As a result, we expanded Nick’s standing as a creative wellspring and as the #1 kids’ entertainment brand.This moment of transition is, of course, bittersweet. But I step away with deep pride in what we’ve built together, and with great confidence in the road ahead. The company is in exceptionally capable hands with David Ellison and the incoming team from Skydance, and I know you’ll continue to thrive and excel with your collective talents.To everyone across the company, thank you. Thank you for staying the course in difficult moments, and for pushing boundaries with heart and determination. Most importantly, thank you for your friendship. It has been an honor to be on this journey with you. I’ll be cheering for you – always.With gratitude,Brian
It was speculated that Robbins would be departing the company after his name was left off the list of executives who’ll be leading the new company once the $8 billion merger becomes official on Thursday, August 7.
Update (8/9): Outgoing Paramount Global executives including Brian Robbins and Chris McCarthy will collect severance payouts. A previous SEC filing had set payments “upon termination and other events” totaling $18.3 million for McCarthy and $18.6 million for Robbins.
That’s on top of their 2024 pay. George Cheeks — who is staying with the new company and will oversee production of South Park — McCarthy and Robbins collected $22.2 million, $19.5 million and $19.6 million, respectively, for last year. The trio worked as co-CEOs since April, when former chief Bob Bakish exited in the midst of deal talks.
Last week, following the FCC clearance of the Skydance-Paramount marriage, Robbins’ fellow co-CEO Chris McCarthy announced his departure. Paramount Co-CEO George Cheeks is making the jump to the new merger, continuing to oversee the CBS Network.
There’s no word on what’s next for Robbins, but it would not be shocking if he starts a new entertainment enterprise. Before Paramount, the executive founded Gen Z multiplatform media company Awesomeness, which was ultimately acquired by DreamWorks Animation in 2013, and then by Viacom in 2018.
The Paramount veteran of eight years and former star of Head of the Class gained oversight of the Paramount motion picture studio in September 2021, taking over for Chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos. Known for electrifying Nickelodeon brands with downstream and ancillary revenues, it was assumed at the time Robbins wouldn’t be a fierce advocate of theatrical in the conglomerate’s quick embrace of its streaming arm Paramount+. But instead, Paramount Pictures led the charge to bring movies back to theaters in 2022. During Robbins’ reign, the studio yielded the biggest-grossing movie of Tom Cruise’s career with Top Gun: Maverick at $1.49 billion. That movie is also technically Paramount’s biggest global-grossing title (not counting 1997’s Titanic, which it only had domestic on, with that James Cameron feature earning $674.3M stateside).
A testament to his executive prowess in minting franchises from theatrical to retail, Robbins’ animated reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and embrace of Spin Master’s PAW Patrol were not only solid hits at the box office but also achieved more than $2.5 billion in consumer products revenue in 2023 alone. Other high points during the Robbins’ regime included Sonic the Hedgehog 2 & 3, the Spyglass reboot of Scream, A Quiet Place: Day One, and Mission: Impossible duo Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning.
If there was a defining moment for Robbins since taking over for Gianopulos, it was his ability to pivot Paramount+ movies — i.e., horror film Smile and musical Mean Girls — from streaming to theatrical. While studios mulled theatrical day-and-date coming out of the pandemic, and even jettisoned prized big-screen franchises to their OTT services (like Disney with Hocus Pocus 2), Robbins had the guts to go all in on theatrical for Smile in 2022. With a global gross of $217M, Smile became the studio’s third most-profitable movie in the last decade. A 2024 sequel raised the franchise’s worldwide cume to $356M.
In his oversee of Nickelodeon, Robbins brought in a partnership with the NFL, which led to the first AR-driven NFL wildcard game, leading to the first ever Super Bowl alternate-telecast on Nickelodeon, hosted by all the Nick IP of characters (i.e. SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star). This telecast went on to win an Emmy.
Robbins joined Paramount in 2017 as the first President of Paramount Players, after which he became President of Nickelodeon in 2018, and then President, Kids & Family Entertainment, for ViacomCBS (now Paramount).
In April 2024, following the departure of President and CEO Bob Bakish, Robbins was elevated alongside Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS; and McCarthy, President and CEO, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, to the role of Co-CEO of Paramount Global. In the role, Robbins oversaw the filmed entertainment division’s creative strategy, multi-platform and worldwide business operations including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.
In his role as President and CEO of Nickelodeon, Robbins had global oversight of all creative, strategic and business operations for Paramount Global’s kids- and young-adult-focused brands, where he led the continued growth of SpongeBob SquarePants across TV, theatricals and consumer products among other Nickelodeon IP. During his run as Chief Content Officer, Movies & Kids & Family, Paramount+, Robbins continued to grow Nickelodeon’s live-action, animated kids and family programming, which also includes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Good Burger 2, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, Monster High and the Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff series Knuckles, which in its first 28 days on Paramount+ clocked 11 million-plus global hours and ranked as the No. 1 Kids and Family Paramount+ series ever in terms of hours.
Among Robbins’ Executive Producer credits are CW series Smallville and One Tree Hill, Nickelodeon’s All That - which he brought back for a new generation in 2019 - and Kenan & Kel, Disney Channel’s So Random and Spike TV’s Blue Mountain State. He also produced the popular WB series What I Like About You and HBO’s Arli$$. In the feature film world, his directing and producing credits include Varsity Blues, Hardball and Coach Carter, among others.
Elsewhere at Paramount:
- Tom Ryan, President & CEO, Paramount Streaming, is departing following the merger with Skydance Media as the David Ellison company sets its new management team. A trailblazer in the streaming industry who led the creation and growth of Pluto TV and Paramount+, Ryan will support Cindy Holland, the new chair of Direct-to-Consumer, and streaming leadership in an advisory role to ensure a smooth transition.
- Veteran MTV Networks executive Nina L. Diaz, who most recently served as President of Content and Chief Creative Officer for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, will be leaving when Skydance‘s pending acquisition of Paramount Global is completed Aug. 7.
- Motion Picture Group Chief Mike Ireland is exiting the studio. Insiders say Ireland will stay on in a consulting role to help with the transition and is considering an offer for a producing deal with the studio.
- Cindy Holland is reassembling the team. Jane Wiseman and Efrain Miron who had worked with Holland at both Netflix and Sister, are expected to be named as part of her team at Paramount, sources said. Holland, who had been advising Skydance on the streaming business, was officially revealed yesterday as a member of the corporate leadership at post-merger Paramount, a Skydance corporation. She will serve as Chair of Direct-to-Consumer, overseeing the strategy, operations and performance of the company’s streaming platforms, Paramount+ and Pluto TV.
- Chris McCarthy, who was co-CEO of Paramount Global and president of Showtime/MTV Entertainment and is leaving after more than 20 years, says his “greatest achievement” at the company was his work around mental health.
- Liza Burnett Fefferman is stepping down as EVP and Head of Communications for Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks. She just notified the staff of her pending departure.
- Keyes Hill-Edgar, a 25-year Viacom/Paramount Global veteran, is leaving as Chief Operating Officer at Paramount Media Networks & Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios.
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Originally published: August 06, 2025.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline.
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