Nick Cannon is speaking out about his past anti-Semitic remarks, stating that he is “not seeking forgiveness” and that he wishes to be “on the right side of history.”
Cannon opened up about the remarks he made during a podcast episode last summer that contributed to his temporary dismissal from ViacomCBS and the loss of his show “Wild N’ Out” in an interview with ABC anchor Linsey Davis on “Soul of a Nation” on Tuesday.
“I’m not looking for forgiveness; I’m looking for a change,” he explained.
Cannon had a tense talk with Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin on his “Cannon’s Class” podcast last July. Cannon praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and supported anti-Semitic conspiracy theories during the debate.
Cannon was fired immediately, and ViacomCBS condemned his comments, saying it “denounces all forms of anti-Semitism.” Cannon initially declined to apologize and insisted on owning his ViacomCBS-owned show “Wild ‘N Out.” Cannon took to Twitter two days later to apologize.
Cannon claims he’s still learning after several months. “I hurt people; I’m (going) to lean into it. I want to understand why I hurt you, what did I say, what are these tropes, educate me.”
Cannon’s method of moving “into it” has been to invite rabbis and Jewish leaders onto the same radio show where he made the anti-Semitic remarks in the first place. Rabbi Abraham Cooper immediately spoke out against Cannon after the uproar. He said in a tweet that the interview was for someone interested in getting a Ph.D. in “Jew-hatred.” Since then, the two have made amends and spoken about further educating him on the topic.
“It’s not about cancel culture, it’s about counsel culture,” Cannon told Davis.
“My journey is not going to stop whether the person watching this forgives me or not. I’m still going to hopefully do this process and be on the right side of history.”
ViacomCBS restored its contract with Cannon in February, and the company announced the VH1 sketch-comedy series “Wild ‘N Out” will resume production with Cannon as host. In a statement to USA Today, MTV Entertainment Group said Cannon has “taken responsibility for his comments” and “worked to educate himself” through conversations with Jewish leaders.
