Viacomcbs severs ties with TV host
LOS ANGELES — Nick Cannon’s “hateful speech” and anti-semitic theories led Viacomcbs to cut ties with the TV host and producer, the media giant said.
The company’s move Tuesday was in response to remarks made by Cannon on a podcast in which he and Richard “Professor Griff” Griffith, the former Public Enemy member, discussed racial bias. The podcast reportedly was filmed last year but aired recently. Cannon produced “Wild ’n Out,” a comedy improv series for VH1, a Viacomcbs-owned cable channel. He’s been a regular part of TV shows unconnected to the company, including as the former host of NBC’S “America’s Got Talent” and host of Fox’s “The Masked Singer.”
He wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Wednesday that he was “deeply saddened” by his firing and accused the company of using his remarks to try to silence “an outspoken black man.
“Systemic racism is what this world was built on and was the subject in which I was attempting to highlight in the recent clips that have been circulating from my podcast,” Cannon said. “If I have furthered the hate speech, I wholeheartedly apologize.”
In Cannon’s podcast, he and Griffin contend that Black people are the true Hebrews and that Jews have usurped their identity.
Cannon then segues into a discussion of skin color to allege that those without dark skin have a “deficiency” that historically forced them to act out of fear and commit acts of violence to survive, he said.
“They had to be savages,” Cannon said, adding that he was referring to “Jewish people, white people, Europeans,” among others.