Cannon Offers Apology, Demands One After Anti- Semitic Words

TV host on his podcast remarks: 'reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2020 7:30 AM CDT
Cannon Offers Apology, Demands One After Anti- Semitic Words
In this Dec. 10, 2018, file photo, Nick Cannon poses for a portrait in New York.   (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP, File)

When ViacomCBS nixed its relationship with Nick Cannon this week over anti-Semitic remarks he made in a recently aired podcast, the company noted its disappointment that Cannon hadn't apologized for those comments. That now appears to have changed, with the 39-year-old TV host and comedian offering his mea culpa on social media, per the Hollywood Reporter. "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," Cannon wrote on Twitter Wednesday night about what he said on his podcast with former Public Enemy member Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin, including his assertion that Black people are "the true Hebrews." Cannon adds the podcast video has since been taken down, and that his comments "reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people."

"I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naive place that these words came from," he added. However, in a Facebook post that also apologizes to the Jewish community, Cannon rips into ViacomCBS, accusing it of lying in its press release on the matter and demanding "full ownership" of the "Wild 'N Out" brand, an idea Cannon says he created, self-financed, and pitched to MTV. Meanwhile, CNN reports that despite the ViacomCBS/Cannon rift, his standing with Fox remains solid, and he'll stay on as host of the network's The Masked Singer. "When we were made aware of Nick Cannon's interview ... we immediately began a dialogue with Nick," Fox says in a statement. "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." (More Nick Cannon stories.)

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