ViacomCBS is ending their long-running business relationship with Nick Cannon over what they’re identifying as “hate speech” and “antisemitic remarks.” This claim comes about following an episode on his podcast, ‘Cannon’s Class’ on YouTube.
Cannon produced the long-running show “Wild ‘N Out” for Viacom’s cable channel VH1. It has run on MTV and VH1 since 2005 and Season 15 premiered back in April. He has also previously appeared as the host of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and Fox’s “The Masked Singer.”
During his live broadcast on June 30th, 2020, he discussed racial bias with former Public Enemy member Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin. In the hour-long show, the pair went back-and-forth about black people being true Hebrews and that Jewish people have overtaken that identity. Elsewhere, Cannon claimed that people of a lighter skin complexion suffer a “little less” and have a “deficiency,” which forces them to live in fear and act out with violence. “They had to be savages,” he said, clarifying that he speaking to “Jewish people, white people, Europeans” and others.
On Tuesday, ViacomCBS released the following statement, “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.”
Despite the backlash, Cannon still stands by what he said. “Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric. We live in a time when it is more important than ever to promote unity and understanding,” he penned on Twitter. “Until then, I hold myself accountable for this moment and take full responsibility because My intentions are only to show that as a beautiful human species, we have way more commonalities than differences. Let’s embrace those as well as each other. We All Family!” He later issued a statement on Facebook, demanding an apology from ViacomCBS and full ownership of “Wild ‘N Out.
Since this incident, a wave of fans have shown full support towards Nick Cannon. One Twitter user chimed in, saying, “You can’t label Black folks anti-Semitic every time they say something you all don’t like. I didn’t hear what Nick Cannon said, but what we’re not about to do is ignore how anti-Black white Jewish people are.”
Nick Cannon, TFP family stands with you.
