Nick Cannon Apologizes for His Anti-Semitic Comments; Will Stay on As Host Of ’The Masked Singer’

On Wednesday, Fox News confirmed Nick Cannon will remain the host of the network’s top-rated reality competition series “The Masked Singer.” Earlier this week, Cannon was fired by ViacomCBS after making anti-Semitic comments on his podcast. However, he has since apologized.

“When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick,” the network said. “He is clear and remorseful that his words were wrong and lacked both understanding and context, and inadvertently promoted hate. This was important for us to observe. Nick has sincerely apologized and quickly taken steps to educate himself and make amends. 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. Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community, and we will combat bigotry of any kind.”

Cannon pinned his own apology online, one day after ViacomCBS severed ties with the star, all while taking control of his long-running comedy sketch “Wild ‘N Out.” In his initial comments on an episode of “Cannon’s Class,” Cannon said Black people are the “true Hebrews” and discussed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family, Variety reports.

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

Days later, Cannon admitted to feeling “ashamed” for the podcast statements and apologized to the Jewish community. “First and foremost, I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin…” The video of the interview has since been removed. Cannon has thanked the community for enlightening him rather than chastising him over his comments.

The fate of the star’s new daytime talk show “Nick Cannon” is still up in the air. Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury has yet to reveal if they will move forward with debuting the show on September 21, in more than 90% of U.S. local markets. Cannon is also a producer and appears in E!’s “Celebrity Call Center,” and is the radio host for Meruelo Media’s KPWR-FM (Power 106), which is syndicated nationally.

In the meantime, Cannon will continue as executive producer and host on “Masked Singer,” a position he’s held since the show’s launch in January 2019. The show was such a hit that it earned a slot behind the Super Bowl this year. Cannon was nominated for Best Host at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards and Best Host for the 2020 Kid’s Choice Awards.

In his lengthy apology, Cannon mentioned his departure as host from America’s Got Talent, saying, the network “threatened and mistreated me for years,” and that he then “took my talents and executive creativity to my open-minded and willing partners at the Fox Television network to create the current #1 hit show on television “The Masked Singer” in which I host and executive produce.”