After stating earlier on Wednesday that ViacomCBS owes him an apology, Nick Cannon is issuing a full apology of his own for making anti-Semitic remarks on an episode of his podcast.
“First and foremost 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 during my interview with Richard Griffin,” he wrote in the series of tweets. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed. I want to express my gratitude to the Rabbis, community leaders and institutions who reached out to me to help enlighten me, instead of chastising me. I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education—I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.”
First and foremost 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 during my interview with Richard Griffin.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education—I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
The podcast episode in question was posted last month on YouTube and he talked about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories such as those involving Rothschild family. The episode’s guest was Professor Griff, who was a part of rap group Public Enemy before leaving the group after making anti-Semitic remarks of his own.
“The people that don’t have [melanin] are a little less,” he said in part. “They may not have the compassion when they were sent to the mountains of Caucasus when they didn’t have the power of the sun. The sun then started to deteriorate them so then, they’re acting out of fear, they’re acting out of low self-esteem, they’re acting out of a deficiency. So, therefore, the only way that they can act is evil. They have to rob, steal, rape, kill in order to survive. So then, these people that didn’t have what we have…and when I say we…I speak of the melanated people, they had to be savages. They had to be barbaric because they’re in these Nordic mountains. They’re acting as animals, so they’re the ones that are actually closer to animals. They’re the ones that are actually the true savages.”
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” he continued. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
In a statement, ViacomCBS said:
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. 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.
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ViacomCBS Severs Ties With Nick Cannon Over ‘Hateful Speech,’ ‘Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories’