Nick Cannon has been fired by ViacomCBS for allegedly making some anti-Semitic remarks during a recent podcast in which he discussed conspiracy theories about Jewish people and praised a minister notorious for anti-Jewish comments.
ViacomCBS is the parent company of MTV and the cable channel TeenNick, both of which Nick has worked with for years on various platforms. The TV personality, 39, had worked as an executive producer and chairman of TeenNick, a spinoff of the network Nickelodeon geared toward teenagers. He had also been a host and executive producer of the MTV comedy show “Wild ’N Out.”
During the podcast conversation Nick and Professor Griff discussed several anti-semitic conspiracies, including “the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything even outside of America." Nick said that people with "lack of pigment" and "lack of melanin" are "savages."
“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," he said.
A ViacomCBS spokeswoman said in a statement that the company categorically denounced 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,” the statement said. “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."
In a tweet on Monday, Nick said:
"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."
Nick will no longer be the host of "Wild ‘n’ Out," "The Masked Singer," or any other ViacomCBS shows.
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