Nick Cannon Apologizes To Jewish Community After Termination from Viacom Over Anti-Semitic Remarks
Photo Courtesy of Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times
On Tuesday, ViacomCBS released a statement dropping Nick Cannon over remarks that were considered to be anti-Semitic on his show, Cannon’s Class.
The company’s spokesperson said, “ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism. We have spoken with Nick Cannon about an episode of his podcast ‘Cannon’s Class’ on YouTube, which promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
Richard Griffith, also known as Professor Griff, was featured on the show while they discussed racial bias and their opinion on the history of it. Formerly a member of Public Enemy, Griffith recounted a moment in his life where an interview with David Mills, a late American journalist, was sent to The Village Voice. In this article, he was referred to as “anti-Semitic”. The discussion of Jewish history became the context of their conversation.
Nick Cannon added to the conversation by citing the work of Minister Farrakhan, who has also been accused of anti-Semitic comments. Cannon repeatedly mentioned that “We’re not saying anything hateful.” He’s referring to speeches that Griffith, Minister Farrakhan, and others give to promote the same beliefs.
Claiming to be “the true Hebrews”, Cannon also went on to say that when people like Minister Farrakhan mentions “the white devil”, it’s not meant to encompass entire race. “He was speaking about the people who devalue our community and themselves,” Cannon said.
The rhetoric of Cannon’s commentary centered around a want for understanding between the two communities, but his specific wording led to the backlash. Straying away from the topic of the Jewish religion, Griffith and Cannon started to discuss their thoughts on the history of racial tension between Black and white people.
“The reason why they fear us is the lack that they have of it [melanin],” said Cannon, “Melanin comes with compassion so the people that don’t have it are, I say this carefully, a little less.” In other words, he believes that the reason for the racial tension is because they lack melanin and because of this, they can only act as “savages” and be “evil”.
Cannon issued an apology to the Jewish community after the negative response to his podcast. He labelled his words as “hurtful” and “divisive”, saying that he has much more to learn about the Jewish religion and he’s willing to have conversations about the topic so he can expand his knowledge.
After publicly apologizing, Cannon made sure to mention how he felt that Viacom hasn’t supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Referencing an article written by the Wall Street Journal, Cannon claims that Viacom deliberately “chose to recently ban all advertisement that supported George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Although there were some that supported Nick Cannon, there were others that voiced their disapproval. According to TMZ, Black British rapper, Zuby, tweeted, “Nick Cannon has gone full black supremacist. This is 100% certified racist.
However, he had the evident support of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs tweeted to Cannon suggesting that he join Revolt TV which is “truly BLACK OWNED”. Combs appreciated what Cannon has done for Black culture and wants him to be able to have a platform to continue.
Although Cannon has yet to respond to Comb’s offer, he’s currently fighting for ownership of “Wild ‘N Out”. Nick Cannon hosted the hip-hop focused comedy show for over a decade, but since it’s owned by Viacom, it’s now facing a host switch or cancellation.