Nick Cannon attends an event for "The Masked Singer," June 4, 2019 in Los Angeles. (AP/Invision/Richard Shotwell)
Cannon refuses to apologize for spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and praising Louis Farrakhan on his YouTube show.
By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News
TV host and singer Mariah Carey’s ex-husband Nick Cannon is in hot water after refusing to apologize for promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and praising anti-Semitic Nation of Islam preacher Louis Farrakhan on his YouTube show.
Recently, Cannon, the host of TV talent competition The Masked Singer and former host of America’s Got Talent, uploaded an episode of his online show Cannon’s Class in which he interviewed rapper Richard Griffin.
During the interview, Griffin made numerous anti-Semitic remarks, including that Black people are the true Jews and Ashkenazi Jews are “impostors.”
Griffin claimed that the Old Testament is actually about Black people. “Those allegories and stories and things were stolen from who we are as a people,” said Griffin.
“That’s our history book, so to speak. Someone else kidnapped us, knocked us upside the head, put us to sleep, stole our birthright, and are claiming that that’s them.”
Cannon spoke up to defend notorious anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. “Every time I’ve heard him speak, it’s positive, it’s powerful, it’s uplifting,” said Cannon, claiming that Farrakhan has been unfairly “demonized.”
Farrkahan has a long history of anti-Semitic hate speech, repeatedly referring to Jews as “termites,” “demonic,” and “the synagogue of Satan.”
Cannon added that his conversation with Griffin was “so prevalent and so on-time is because of what we’re dealing with, with the honorable Minister Farrakhan being silenced on Facebook and other platforms.”
Cannon posited that efforts against anti-Semitism are a “counterintelligence program,” adding that “because we have so much intelligence and information, they want to counter that by destroying us, by neutralizing us, by silencing us.”
After an outcry from various Jewish civil rights groups, Cannon defended himself on Twitter but stopped short of issuing a formal apology.
“To me apologies are empty,” said Cannon in an interview on Monday with Fast Company.
“Are you forcing me to say the words ‘I’m sorry’? Are you making me bow down, ’cause then again, that would be perpetuating that same rhetoric that we’re trying to get away from.”
Doubling down on his praise for Farrakhan, Cannon said, “I can’t be responsible for however long Minister Farrakhan has been ministering and things that he said. That is his voice and his fight. I can only be held accountable for what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard.”
On Wednesday, ViacomCBS announced they were cutting ties with Cannon.
“ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism,” the media giant said in a statement.
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