Nick Cannon, 39, has formally apologized for anti-semitic comments made in a recent episode of podcast/YouTube series, titled Cannon’s Class. “First and foremost 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 tweeted on Wednesday, July 15. “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 interview has since been removed,” he also wrote.
First and foremost 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.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
“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,” Nick penned. “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,” the father of three added.
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.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020
“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,” he concluded his series of tweets.
Nick was fired from his long running MTV series Wild ‘N Out after his comments came to light, however, he will continue to hold his post as host on FOX’s The Masked Singer. In a statement released Wednesday, July 15 and obtained by HollywoodLife, FOX said: “When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick. He is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate.” The network went on to acknowledge that Nick has “taken steps” to educate himself and “apologize.”
“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,” the statement also read. “Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind,” they concluded.
Nick’s formal apology comes after he called out MTV’s parent company, ViacomCBS, for the firing in a Facebook post then addressed the situation on Twitter. “Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. 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 tweeted on July 13. “Until then, I hold myself accountable for this moment and take full responsibility because My intentions are only to show that as a beautiful human species we have way more commonalities than differences, So let’s embrace those as well as each other. We All Family!” he also wrote.