ViacomCBS Severs Ties With Nick Cannon Over 'Hateful Speech,' 'Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories'

Nick Cannon has been dropped by ViacomCBS over comments he made on his podcast, Cannon’s Corner. It is unclear whether or not this officially signals the end of VH1’s Wild N Out or other programming that he has on ViacomCBS properties like Nickelodeon and MTV.

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 says,

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.

Monday on Facebook, Cannon responded to the backlash, stating in part, “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 are living in a time when it is more important than ever to promote unity and understanding.”

He continued, “I am an advocate for people’s voices to be heard openly, fairly and candidly. In today’s conversation about anti-racism and social justice, I think we all – including myself – must continue educating one another and embrace uncomfortable conversations – it’s the only way we ALL get better. I encourage more healthy dialogue and welcome any experts, clergy, or spokespersons to any of my platforms to hold me accountable and correct me in any statement that I’ve made that has been projected as negative. 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, [s]o let’s embrace those as well as each other.”

Cannon also hosts The Masked Singer on Fox and has a syndicated talk show that is scheduled to debut this fall.

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Photo: Getty