ViacomCBS has cut ties with “Wild ‘N Out” host Nick Cannon after a podcast episode which the company said “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,” a spokesperson said in a statement late Tuesday.
Cannon’s comments came in an episode last month of his podcast series “Cannon’s Class” in which he interviewed former Public Enemy member Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin — who himself was fired from the group for making anti-Semitic comments in a 1989 interview — and repeatedly referenced fringe conspiracy theories about Jewish people. During the conversation, Cannon said Black people are the “true Hebrews” and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
In the interview and in follow-up statements, Cannon has repeatedly stressed that his comments were not intended to be hateful. “Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. “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 later said in an interview with Fast Company that he would not apologize for the comments.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Wrap