After talk with rabbi, Nick Cannon pledges to work against hate

A prominent rabbi who met with Nick Cannon says the television host and producer is “genuinely concerned about the hurt” he caused by making anti-Semitic remarks, and they intend to work together to reject hate.

Cannon apologized to the Jewish community this week for his “hurtful and divisive” words, a day after ViacomCBS cut ties with him for the comments made on a podcast where he discussed racial bias, and following a phone conversation with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s associate dean.

Cooper asked him to post the apology on social media, and then met with him Thursday for a three-hour conversation at Cannon’s business headquarters in Burbank, California.

“He appears to be someone who’s genuine in his desire to make sure people understand his apology,” Cooper said.

“But also ... not to move forward saying, ‘OK, I have to go back to my regular things, thank you for helping to give me a lifeline after this terrible error.’ That wasn’t it. The thrust was: ‘OK. Now, what do we do? How do we roll up our sleeves? What can we do together?’“

Cooper said that he’s confident that Cannon will use his wideranging social media presence to talk openly about mistakes, fight for social justice and reject messages of hate.

“It could have a very, very positive impact on young people” Cooper said.

Cannon was fired as producer of the comedy improv series “Wild ’n Out” on VH1, the ViacomCBSowned cable channel, over comments he made in an episode of the podcast “Cannon’s Class.”