Nick Cannon, a US actor and TV host, has apologised to the Jewish community for his “hurtful and divisive” words, a day after ViacomCBS severed ties with him for the remarks made on a podcast.
The MTV parent company had fired him over a podcast remark he made in which he and Richard ‘Professor Griff” Griffin, a former member of the band Public Enemy, had discussed racial bias.
On the podcast, which was released on June 30, Cannon and Griffin, had claimed Jews have stolen black people’s identity as true Hebrews, with the former implying those with light skin are inferior.
As the podcast received criticism, Cannon was dropped by the company, which stated that it didn’t condone “bigotry of any kind” and that it “categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism.”
The Anti-Defamation league and some Jewish leaders had also condemned the “anti-Semitic theories” expressed by the show host and demanded an apology.
Cannon however took to his Twitter page on Thursday to state that he feels “ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from.”
He added that the video from the podcast has since been taken down.
“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.
“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 has since 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.
“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 am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning, and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.”
Fox retains Cannon
Meanwhile, Fox said it will keep Nick Cannon on as host of The Masked Singer, despite the anti-Semitic remarks.
“When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick,” it 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.”