Nick Cannon apologized for comments he made on a podcast that were deemed “anti-Semitic” and resulted in him being dropped by ViacomCBS. “I’m ashamed,” Cannon wrote in a series of social media posts on Wednesday.
“I express my sincere and 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 wrote.
“They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I am ashamed of the uninformed and naive place where these words come from,” he continued. “The video of this interview has since been removed.”
“In my podcast, I used words and bibliographic references that I assumed were real to improve my community, but instead turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric that hurt another community,” Cannon said in his apology. “This is why I’m so sorry, but now together we can write a new chapter on healing.”
In the podcast, which was released on June 30, Cannon and Griffin, the former Public Enemy member, claim that Jews have stolen the identity of blacks as true Hebrews. Cannon also implies that people with fair skin are inferior.
Cannon referred to the teachings of Louis Farrakhan, considered anti-Semitic by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and to a conspiracy theory about the Rothschild family considered anti-Semitic by the Anti-Defamation League.
Cannon initially went to social media on Monday to say that he “does not approve of hate speech or dissemination of hate rhetoric.” Cannon said she took full responsibility for her comments, but did not fully apologize, but instead asked the experts to “correct me in any statement she has made that has been projected as negative.”
This prompted ViacomCBS to act. “We are deeply concerned that Nick has not acknowledged or apologized for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are ending our relationship with him,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Cannon rejected ViacomCBS’s statement, claiming that he received no response from company president Shari Redstone after trying to communicate. He also asked for “full ownership” of “Wild ‘n Out”, which he created and hosted. “Wild ‘n Out” airs on VH1, a cable channel owned by ViacomCBS.
ViacomCBS has yet to issue a response to Cannon’s apology.
ViacomCBS is the parent company of CBS News.
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