Paramount Global’s Executive Vice President, Chief Communications, and Corporate Marketing Officer, Julia Phelps, will leave the company at the end of the month.
Known for her strategic and collaborative approach Phelps’s departure follows the recent exit of CEO Bob Bakish. This transition comes when Paramount’s future remains a focal point within the industry. Meanwhile, controlled by Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the company has been engaged in discussions regarding a potential sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media, as well as Sony with Apollo Global Management.
The company’s marketing and communications group will temporarily report to Brian Robbins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon according to a memo from Julia Phelps. In the company’s “Office of the CEO,” Robbins is one of the execs which also includes George Cheeks, President and CEO of CBS, and Chris McCarthy, President and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.
Notably, Julia Phelps holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Victoria in British Columbia and a master’s degree in strategic communications from Columbia University and is a native of Canada. In 2005 she joined Viacom from New York-based agency DeVries Public Relations. Before her most recent role, she worked in communications for Viacom’s international operations and then served as EVP of Communications, Culture, and Marketing for Viacom, a position she assumed in April 2017.
Furthermore, Julia Phelps has served in increasingly senior roles at Paramount Global, formerly known as ViacomCBS, and its predecessors. Additionally, she has served in the top communications role at Viacom, which merged with CBS Corp. in late 2019. She further saw Paramount’s communications team through the Viacom-CBS merger, the launch of Paramount+, and the corporate rebranding to Paramount Global. Among the initiatives she developed with her team were a global expansion of BET’s Content for Change campaign, called Spark, and the establishment of cross-company marketing and publicity functions.
Phelps said, “In two decades and across multiple roles, I’ve been lucky to work with the very best all around the world. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve done together to tell our story, spotlight our creativity, drive the transformation of our business in a time of unprecedented change, and build our culture.”