Nick Cannon will keep 'Masked Singer' hosting gig after anti-Semitic comments, apology
Nick Cannon’s belated apology was good enough for at least one of his bosses.
Amid controversy over the actor’s anti-Semitic comments on his podcast, Fox announced late Wednesday that Cannon will keep his gig as the host of “The Masked Singer,” hours after ViacomCBS cut ties with him completely.
“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.”
Cannon caused a stir with the June 30 episode of his podcast, “Cannon’s Class,” on which former Public Enemy member Professor Griff appeared.
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” the 39-year-old actor said on the podcast. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
On Wednesday, Cannon issued a public apology for his “hurtful and divisive words.”
“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 tweeted. “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.
“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 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.”
Cannon said video of his interview with Griff has been taken down.
But before his apology, Cannon spent the day retweeting people defending him, including one that called executives at ViacomCBS “racist bullies” for firing him.
Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury, which owns Cannon’s self-titled upcoming daytime talk show, has been tight-lipped on whether that will make it to air as scheduled on Sept. 21.
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