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Cannon responded shortly thereafter that he had
tried to contact Shari Redstone, the chair of ViacomCBS, to
reconcile and "actually apologize if I said anything that pained
or hurt her or her community."
His effort was met with "Dead Silence," he said in a Facebook
post. A Viacom spokesman said: "It is absolutely untrue that
Nick Cannon reached out to the Chair of ViacomCBS."
At issue was a June 30 interview on his "Cannon's Class" podcast
with Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin, who left rap group
Public Enemy after telling The Washington Times in 1989, "The
Jews are wicked. And we can prove this."
On the podcast, Griffin made the unsubstantiated claim often
asserted by hate groups that Jews control the music industry and
the media. Cannon responded to Griffin's comments, saying:
"You're just saying what you're saying, you're speaking facts."
In a statement, Viacom said its executives spoke with Cannon
about his comments on the podcast, which it said "promoted
hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories."
"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," ViacomCBS spokesman
Justin Dini said in the statement.
Cannon, whose relationship with ViacomCBS has included hosting
shows on Nickelodeon and serving as host and executive producer
of the MTV comedy show "Wild 'N Out," disputed the statement,
saying he sought on two occasions a meeting "to reconcile the
situation."
"I must apologize to my Jewish brothers and sisters for putting
them in such a painful position," Cannon said on Facebook,
adding he had received an "outpouring of love and support from
the Jewish community."
He said he was disappointed "that Viacom does not understand or
respect the power of the black community."
Cannon apologized again on Wednesday night, saying he was
"ashamed of the uninformed and naive place that these words came
from."
Cannon is the host and executive producer of "The Masked Singer"
on Fox and previously hosted NBC's "America's Got Talent."
Fox said it "will move forward with Nick (Cannon)" as he has
"sincerely apologized" and taken steps to "make amends."
"Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community
and we will combat bigotry of any kind," it added.
(Reporting by Rebekah Mathew in Bengaluru; Additional reporting
by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and Peter Szekely in New York;
Editing by Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.)
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