In a string of tweets, the 39-year-old said he felt “ashamed” of the remarks he made on the podcast.
By Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner
After days of controversy sparked by his sharing of a video in which he voiced anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, U.S. media personality Nick Cannon apologized on Wednesday to the Jewish community for his offensive comments.
“The Masked Singer” host, who had initially refused to back down, took to Twitter on Wednesday to share his first formal apology for the “hurtful and divisive words” he said during his interview with rapper Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin for his podcast “Cannon’s Class.”
In a string of tweets, the 39-year-old said he felt “ashamed” of the remarks he made on the podcast and that the video of the interview, which Cannon uploaded onto YouTube on June 30, has been removed.
Further examination revealed that the clip was not deleted by Cannon himself, but taken down by YouTube for violating its hate-speech policy.
Cannon added that he had spoken with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and his first words to Cooper were an apology “for the hurt I caused the Jewish Community.”
He concluded by saying, “On my podcast I used words & referenced literature I assumed to be factual to uplift my community instead turned out to be hateful propaganda and stereotypical rhetoric that pained another community. For this I am deeply sorry but now together we can write a new chapter of healing.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Cannon had demanded an apology from ViacomCBS, the media giant who fired him for the anti-Semitic statements he made on his podcast.
Fox confirmed on Wednesday that Cannon would not be fired from his hosting gig on “The Masked Singer.”
Cannon is launching a syndicated daytime talk show in September with Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury, which did not immediately respond to The Algemeiner’s requests for comment on Cannon’s anti-Semitic remarks.
A number of celebrities have spoken out about Cannon’s remarks by expressing either support or condemnation.
Rapper and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs told Cannon on Twitter, “We got your back and love you and what you have done for the culture.” He also invited Cannon to join Revolt TV, the cable channel Combs founded that aired on July 4 an anti-Semitic address by notorious anti-Semite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
The co-hosts of “The View” devoted a segment of their show on Wednesday to condemning Cannon and supporting his firing from ViacomCBS. Whoopi Goldberg started the conversation by blasting Cannon’s “ignorance about history” and Sunny Hostin highlighted the “long history of Jewish people in the civil rights movement being such allies to African Americans.”
Hostin said she was “disappointed” by Cannon as well as DeSean Jackson, the NFL star who recently uploaded and then deleted anti-Semitic Instagram posts referring to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. She called Cannon and Jackson’s actions “unacceptable,” adding that “they do need to be held accountable.”
Co-anchor Meghan McCain said although she was happy to see outrage over Cannon’s “blatant anti-Semitism,” she wanted “more culpability for anti-Semitism in general.”
She referenced Jewish actor Josh Malina’s recent Twitter post about the lack of “cancel culture” when the issue was anti-Semitism, saying, “We need to take a hard look at why in this moment you can get fired and cancelled from society for so many things in so many ways, but anti-Semitism… it’s met with a lot of silence. There’s not a lot of culpability.”
Fellow co-host Joy Behar expressed frustration that “Jews have always been the go-to scapegoat in the world over the centuries, it’s enough already.”
She told Cannon, “Look who the enemy is, Nick. It is not your Jewish brother. Get smart, get some education, read up on it or otherwise shut up.”
Rapper 50 Cent called out Cannon for his racist remarks in an Instagram Story, according to a screenshot of the post taken by StopAntisemitism.org. However, after facing backlash from Cannon’s supporters, the rapper removed the Instagram post and made his account private.
Jackson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, was among those who slammed 50 Cent for calling out Cannon.
Former NBA star Dwayne Wade originally backed Cannon in Twitter post, but quickly deleted the message and clarified his stance on the issue. He tweeted on Wednesday, “I was not supporting or condoning what Nick Cannon specifically said, but I had expressed my support of him owning the content and brand he helped create.”
He added, “I was too quick to respond without being fully informed about his hurtful anti-Semitic remarks. As you all know I have ZERO tolerance for any hate speech!”
American radio host Charlamagne tha God, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, defended Cannon on his show “The Breakfast Club” by further perpetuating the common anti-Semitic claim that Jews controlled the media.
He said on air, “Listen, Nick is my guy. I hate it had to be him, but that’s what you can do when you have the power. And if there’s one thing Jewish people have showed us, it’s they have the power. I can’t wait until the day black people are able to fire people for saying things about us that we deem racist. We can barely get cops fired for actually killing us!”