Nick Cannon Fired By Viacom
ViacomCBS has ended it’s long time relationship with Nick Cannon after the host and actor made anti-Semitic comments on his radio show, as Variety reports.
During Cannon’s June 30 episode of his show, the host interviewed Professor Griff, a former member of Public Enemy, and said that Black people are the “true Hebrews.”
Cannon also talked about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family. “It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” Cannon said. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
A ViacomCBS spokesperson released a statement to Variety saying that the company’s relationship with Nick Cannon is now terminated.
“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.,” the statement read.
“While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him. We are committed to doing better in our response to incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry. ViacomCBS will have further announcements on our efforts to combat hate of all kinds.”
Cannon took to both Facebook and Twitter, on Monday (July 13), to say that he has “no hate in my heart nor malice intentions” and doesn’t condone hate speech. The actor and host also said that he holds himself “accountable for this moment” and takes full responsibility for his actions.
From late Tuesday night and into early Wednesday morning, Cannon began retweeting a myriad of messages from supportive fans, including some who expressed concern for the future Cannon’s long-running MTV sketch comedy series Wild ‘N Out.
Cannon has hosted the series since its 2005 debut and recent expansion to sister network VH1. The host and actor also retweeted a slew of his critics who called Cannon the N-word.
Nick Cannon has had a relationship with Viacom since the ’90s when he was an actor on Nickelodeon and into the 2000s with “Wild ‘N Out.” Cannon is also the host of The Masked Singer on Fox. He also hosted America’s Got Talent on NBC from 2009-2016. Cannon is also slated to launch a syndicated daytime talk show in September with Debmar-Mercury.
