Nick Cannon Fired By Viacom After Anti-Semitic Comments

Nick Cannon is scrambling after Viacom’s decision to fire him was made after he made anti-Semitic remarks during a recent podcast.

Nick Cannon is in hot water after recent statements rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Now, as we all know, I am not a fan of cancel culture. I believe everyone deserves a second chance and an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. However, Nick Cannon didn’t make these comments ten years ago. This podcast was recorded last month and he is a fully grown man. It’s different when someone makes a stupid comment as a teen, grows up and learns from it. It’s another thing when a full grown adult says these things. Especially in 2020 in the midst of a social justice movement. I mean, these comments would never be acceptable, but they seem even more tone deaf now.

What Did He Say?

Nick Cannon appeared on rapper Richard Griffin’s podcast where they discussed Griffin’s dismissal from rap group Public Enemy in 1989. Griffin says he got kicked out because he spoke the truth about the Jews and now he is hated. He said, “the Jews are wicked” and account for “the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe.” In a surprise twist of events, Nick actually agreed with him. Nick then expressed his disappointment that Louis Farrakhan’s posts have been blocked on Facebook. Farrakhan has a history of posting anti-Semitic rhetoric on social media.

“You can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people. That’s our birthright. So if that’s truly our birthright, there’s no hate involved.”

Nick Cannon

He also spoke about the Rothschilds, the banking family implicated in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. He said something about giving too much power to the “they’s” and when given too much power, we get the Rothschilds. I’m not too clear on the specifics of this conspiracy theory but from what I can gather, it is pretty hurtful. One thing that confused me is when he said black people were the original Hebrews and because of that, they can’t be anti-Semitic. I don’t get what he’s trying to say there.

Fallout From Comments

Once his comments were made public, the consequences came immediately. Viacom decided to fire Nick after a decades long partnership. This means no more Nick as the host of Wild n Out. It truly is the end of an era. Does anyone still watch that show anyways? The network says their main concern is that Nick seemed to have no remorse for the hate he spread. For that reason, and for their commitment to bettering their response to bigotry, Cannon was let go.

Nick’s response to his firing was anything less than gracious. He called Viacom deceptive and was angry they can’t see or respect the power the black community holds. Yeah the black community deserves respect, but don’t Jewish people also deserve respect? It is only after this childish outburst that an apology actually came. He said sorry for perpetuating hurtful stereotypes and for being uninformed. It’s kind of hard to believe this apology after his reaction to being fired. It doesn’t necessarily ring sincerity if you ask me. Nearly all of these public apologies feel that way though.

Some Good News For Nick

While Viacom chose to fire Nick, Fox has chosen to keep him on as the host of The Masked Singer. In their statement it is made clear they condemn racism and bigotry, and commended Nick for apologizing. I skip all parts of The Masked Singer except for the actual performance, so whoever the host it doesn’t really matter to me.

“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.

From the statement from FOX

His apology seemed to be enough for the executives at Fox. Maybe it would have been enough for the executives at Viacom had they had the opportunity to hear it.

Do you think Viacom fired Nick too quickly, or is Fox making a mistake by keeping him?

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