I’m only covering part of this Nick Cannon mess, I know. I know there are like a million side-stories and different angles and Cannon has been on Twitter for what feels like 36 hours straight, tweeting and retweeting problematic sh-t. It all started a few weeks ago, when Cannon said a sh-t ton of massively anti-Semitic statements on his podcast. He was talking about global banking conspiracies, how black people are the “real Hebrews” and all kinds of positive stuff about (forever anti-Semite) Louis Farrakhan. For all of that, ViacomCBS fired Cannon from all of his jobs with them, from MTV’s Wild ‘N Out to TeenNick. Cannon got increasingly messy after ViacomCBS fired him, but apparently he still has his job at Fox, and at some point, Cannon tried to “apologize.”
Nick Cannon is apologizing for anti-Semitic remarks he made during a recent podcast episode.
“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,” Cannon, 39, wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening. “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,” he wrote, adding that the interview, which was part of his Cannon’s Class podcast, has been removed.
“While the Jewish experience encompasses more than 5,000 years and there is so much I have yet to learn, I have had at least a minor history lesson over the past few days and to say that it is eye-opening would be a vast understatement,” Cannon continued. The actor expressed his “gratitude” to “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,” he concluded.
While ViacomCBS severed ties with Cannon after a decades-long relationship with the Wild ‘n Out host, Fox said in a statement Wednesday that Cannon will remain as host of the Masked Singer.
“When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick,” the network said in a statement. “He is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate. This was important for us to observe. Nick has sincerely apologized, and quickly taken steps to educate himself and make amends. On that basis and given a belief that this moment calls for dialogue, we will move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly. FOX condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind.”
My take? Considering how problematic Cannon was immediately following his firing from Viacom, I think Fox likely hired a crisis manager for him and that’s when this new journey began. I just don’t believe Nick Cannon wrote that apology, I think it was written for him by some publicist and posted to his account because Fox was very specific about what he would have to do and say to keep his job. And I really have to ask Fox: why bother? Does Fox think that this will be the last time Cannon does or says something bigoted, anti-Semitic or problematic? This kind of bullsh-t can’t be fixed in a week or a month or a year.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Ah, so he had to apologize for the stuff he said about Jewish people, but stands by what he said about white people. I’m surprised he gets away with that, what he said was monstrous. And no way did he write that statement. I’m amazed that he kept his job.
Idk if he wrote any of it himself but it was a weak apology, he has an intention to learn LOTS IN THE FUTURE and lacked context? So does he still believe that Jews aren’t the real Jews or not? He didn’t touch on that part with any specific thing he’s changed his mind on. I used to find him very attractive physically but it was gone with the turbans and now this stupidity. Nothing against all men who wear turbans but his turbans look very feminine and the way he dresses now even without a turban is just a personal turn off for me as well.
he can “apologize” to Jews because he knew exactly what the reaction from his fans would be and that’s a confirmation of their belief in all of the conspiracy theories about Jews that Cannon espoused. I had the privilege of being invited into some Black spaces in FB that also allowed allies. There were occasional antisemitic posts and comments prior to Cannon’s statements usually in response to posts about Louis Farrakhan but yesterday one of those groups erupted in multiple antisemitic posts & comments – I left when Henry Ford was praised & quoted as an expert in evil Jews.
Is Nick Cannon that popular? I’m surprised fox bothered with this too. These talent shows change hosts all the time. Maybe they’re afraid of lawsuits? It’s weird to me that he wasn’t fired.
well when he got got fired from the first thing , someone said « see! Proves the point that the Jews are in control of everything! »
And fox probably has white supremacist viewers who are Anti-Semitic, and doesn’t want to give those viewers the impression that fox is controlled by Jewish people who control everything.
Too convoluted ?
Lol maybe a bit convoluted but nothing unreasonable when it comes to fox.
wasn’t he fired from AGT for use of the N word and some other nasty crap?
Fox seems like the network of fools
“FOX condemns all forms of hate directed towards any community and we will fight bigotry of any kind.”
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
That’s all I got.
I think this is b.s. Why is he getting a second chance when so many others weren’t? He said some truly horrible things and he still believes those things. WTH?
Well Fox is pro-nazi. Let’s not forget that.
Sorry, the fact that Dwayne Wade, Allen Iverson and Diddy all came out and publicly supported Nick Cannon before the apology – they are all crappy people. We see you, you all are trash.
Dwayne Wade supported it? That’s truly disappointing considering how his wife & child have been treated
He’s FOS and should be gone. But typical Fox, somebody says or does something racist or crazy and they “disappear” for a while and then are right back at it.
Call me crazy but I think Fox is making far too much of an effort to protect an antisemite from the consequences of being antisemitic.
He’s a very ignorant person. Let’s not forget that there are lots of people who find dudes like this useful for their own purposes. He’ll be kept around by Fox for a while.
Hatred is learned, usually from a young age. One doesn’t become enlightened overnight. What a creep.
Exactly! I was reading comments & abt to post a very similar sentiment. It’s like, welcome to 2020 & forward, age of social media enlightenment where one can post forceful thoughts & ideologies, then in the space of 24 hrs or less, suddenly become so educated & enlightened…almost like they don’t even know the person who broadcast such stuff. No…I don’t think his apology & quickly-found enlightenment are sincere.
Nope. Nope. He is canceled. There were so many anti Jewish tweets yesterday that it was trending.
Allow me to offer a perspective from someone who grew up in a disenfranchised African American community in the U.S. Cannon’s views are shared by a lot of marginalized people. Jemele Hill’s take is wonderful, because she is showing an example of someone willing to learn and understand about how reflexive anti-Semitic thinking can be. In the 1980’s, Louis Farrakhan came to my community every year and rented out the gym at the community college in the town that I grew up in, and my friends and I would go listen to hear him talk about Black empowerment and supporting Black businesses. His anti-Semitic views were revolting, but nobody else was coming into the neighborhood to talk to us. Nobody else was showing up to encourage young people to do better except for the weary local educators who worked with us and the Black churches that were part of the landscape. Farrakhan promoted financial independence. We weren’t there to become Muslim, though he was recruiting for that, too.
Nick Cannon, like to or not, represents a lot of people’s views. Black people have to depend on white people becoming educated about bias and hate, and liberal as well as conservative whites people have turned a blind eye for a long, long time; George Floyd’s murder has become a turning point that I hope creates change, but I will believe it when economic and societal power is more evenly shared. White people have to depend on Black and other POC becoming educated about bias and hate, too. Black and Jewish people have more in common than not. Nick Cannon is one of the few Black men who has money and power, but it is in the entertainment business, and this is forcing him to publicly apologize and learn, but Jemele Hill’s example and nuanced views are the ones I look too. Cannon’s platform is bigger amongst the larger community right now because Jemele Hill doesn’t get the exposure that he does. Hate him all you want, but, if you want the larger community to change, it will be through people like Nick Cannon providing an example.
Wow. What an amazing experience you’ve shared, and an important perspective to those of us that still want to learn and grow and be better allies.
Thank you.
Thanks, Teebee!
Thank you for your perspective. Can you share your thoughts on the anti-Asian sentiment that I’ve experienced from the Black community? With the racial/social movement that has since the murder of George Floyd, I’ve seen rampant anti-Asian sentiment: everything from you’re not doing enough to why the heck are you even here and protesting.
I just want to point out that fox and Fox News are not the same company anymore. Fox is legit still terrible but I think a lot of people have that misconception.
I didn’t know that. It’s an easy assumption to make.
I could be wrong but my understanding is that 20th Century Fox is no longer owned by Murdoch’s News Corp. However, Fox news and Fox broadcast stations, which employs Cannon, are stilled owned by the same company.
@Goldie I think that was the case but now 20th century fox is owned by Disney.
My only understanding of this was because I looked into why The Simpsons was on Disney+ haha
ugh. it seems like nobody’s taking anti-semitism seriously anymore.
Hardly, Nemo. We can’t expect understanding unless we protect everyone. The Jewish people have suffered mightily, and it’s important to respect all people regardless of our differences. The exception I personally make are for the people who want me removed from the US, starved of economic prosperity, or dead.