He tweeted: “I hurt a whole community and it hurt to the core, I thought it couldn’t get worse.”
“Then I saw my own community turn against me and call me a salesperson to apologize,” the tweet continued. “Good evening. Enjoy Earth.”
Then he added: “You can all have this planet. I am out!”
ViacomCBS ended a decades-long relationship with Cannon this week after he was joined by controversial hip hop figure Professor Griff in a recent episode of the “Cannon’s Class” podcast, where blacks were spoken of as “true Hebrews” and included Semitic conspiracy theories.
During his appearance on the Cannon podcast, Griff doubled down on his previous comments, saying “now they hated him because I told the truth.”
Cannon said Griff was “speaking facts” and amplified Griff’s views that the Jewish people controlled the media, comparing it to the power of the Rothschild family, bank scions who have long been the target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
The host of “The Masked Singer” also disputed that such views were anti-Semitic, saying blacks are “true Hebrews.”
“It is never a hate speech. You cannot be anti-Semitic when we are Semitic people,” he said. “When we are the same people they want to be. That is our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
On Monday Cannon posted a series of tweets about the controversy, writing “Anyone who knows me knows I have no hatred in my heart or malicious intent.”
“I do not approve of hate speech or dissemination of hate rhetoric,” he wrote. “We are living in a time when promoting unity and understanding is more important than ever.”
He added that he is “an advocate for people’s voices to be heard openly, fairly and sincerely.”
Your apology
ViacomCBS has had a professional relationship with Cannon for several years and is the parent company of several networks, including Nickelodeon, in which Cannon appeared as an actor beginning in the 1990s.
ViacomCBS also owns MTV, where Cannon’s comedy series “Wild ‘N Out” has been popular since its debut in 2005 and recently expanded to its sister network, VH1.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the corporation released a statement to CNN saying the company “condemns intolerance of any kind and we strongly denounce all forms of anti-Semitism.”
“We have spoken to Nick Cannon about an episode of his ‘Cannon’s Class’ podcast on YouTube, which promoted hate speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” the statement read.
“While we support education and ongoing dialogue in the fight against intolerance, we are deeply concerned that Nick has not recognized or apologized for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are ending our relationship with him.”
“I don’t blame any individual, I blame the oppressive and racist infrastructure,” Cannon wrote.
“Systemic racism is what this world was built on and that was the topic I was trying to highlight in the recent clips that have been circulating since my podcast. If I have promoted hate speech, I sincerely apologize.”
He also specifically apologized to the Jewish community.
“I must apologize to my Jewish brothers and sisters for putting them in such a painful position, which was never my intention, but I know that this whole situation has hurt many people and together we will fix it,” he wrote. “I have dedicated my daily efforts to continuing conversations to bring the Jewish community and the African American community closer together, embracing our differences and sharing our commonalities.”
Cannon tweeted that his comments “reinforced the worst stereotypes of proud and magnificent people and I am ashamed of the uninformed and naive place where these words come from. The video of this interview has been removed.”
“When we heard about Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately started a dialogue with Nick,” the statement said. “It is clear and sorry that his words were wrong and lacked understanding and context, and he inadvertently promoted hatred. This was important for us to observe. Nick was sincerely apologetic and quickly took steps to educate himself and make amends.”
CNN contacted Cannon representatives for additional comment.
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