Nick Cannon’s anti-Semitic comments may have cost him a gig with ViacomCBS, but he remains employed by Fox. The network has confirmed that Cannon will continue to host its widely popular reality singing series, The Masked Singer.
The television personality and podcast host came under fire on Wednesday after he made anti-Semitic remarks during an interview with Richard Griffin, a.k.a. former Public Enemy member Professor Griff. During the chat, Cannon referred to prominent Jewish business owners as Rothschilds, a family with strong ties to banking who are often at the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. He repeatedly made reference to “theys” who he said were “the Illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds.” He argued that Black people were the true Semitic people, and that Jews just “want to be.” And he said people that don’t have melanin “are a little less” and historically had to act like “savages.”
Cannon was immediately dismissed by ViacomCBS, the parent company of MTV and VH1, home to his hit comedy hip-hop show Wild ‘N Out, as well as TeenNick and Nickelodeon, which have featured Cannon in various roles for decades.
But when it comes to The Masked Singer, Cannon’s job is safe.
“When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick,” FOX said in a statement on Wednesday. “He is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate. This was important for us to observe. Nick has sincerely apologized, and quickly taken steps to educate himself and make amends. On that basis and given a belief that this moment calls for dialogue, we will move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly. Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind.”
For his part, Cannon has finally apologized for the comments. After spending much of the day engaged in a tit-for-tat with ViacomCBS over how his firing went down and the ownership of Wild ‘N’Out, Cannon issued a formal apology via Twitter late Wednesday night.
“First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin,” Cannon began. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.”
“I want to express my gratitude to the Rabbis, community leaders and institutions who reached out to me to help enlighten me, instead of chastising me,” Cannon continued. “I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education—I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.”
“On my podcast I used words & referenced literature I assumed to be factual to uplift my community instead turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric that pained another community For this I am deeply sorry but now together we can write a new chapter of healing.”
They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education—I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.
Advertisement— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
I just had the blessed opportunity to converse with Rabbi Abraham Cooper director of global social action @SimonWiesenthal My first words to my brother was, I apologize for the hurt I caused the Jewish Community….
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
On my podcast I used words & referenced literature I assumed to be factual to uplift my community instead turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric that pained another community For this I am deeply sorry but now together we can write a new chapter of healing
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
