ViacomCBS Fires Nick Cannon Over Anti-Semitic Remarks

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ViacomCBS has cut ties with Nick Cannon after he pushed anti-Semitic conspiracies in a June 30 episode of his podcast Cannon’s Class. 

During the episode, Cannon and former Public Enemy member Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin praised Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan and made several anti-Semitic remarks.

“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” Cannon said later in the episode. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright.”

Cannon acknowledged his comments following backlash from the video and pledged to continue to educate himself — adding that he holds himself accountable and takes responsibility for the remarks.

Regardless of his statement, ViacomCBS has announced that they are ending their relationship with Cannon, citing the hateful rhetoric pushed in his Cannon’s Class episode.

“ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism. We have spoken with Nick Cannon about an episode of his podcast ‘Cannon’s Class’ on YouTube, which promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” the company said in a statement to Variety.

“While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him. We are committed to doing better in our response to incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry. ViacomCBS will have further announcements on our efforts to combat hate of all kinds.”

Correction: A previous version of this story described Nick Cannon’s statement as an apology, which it was not. Mediaite regrets the error.