Nick Cannon has announced a decision to “take some time away” from his morning radio show in order to focus on “thorough reflection and education” following anti-Semitic comments made on his podcast.
“Morning radio family. I have decided to take some time away from my radio show so I can commit myself to deeper, more thorough reflection and education,” Cannon, who has been hosting “Nick Cannon Morning” on KPWR-FM Power 106 since June 2019, said in a tweet Thursday.
The decision comes two days after ViacomCBS cut ties with the “Wild ‘N Out” host over comments he made on his “Cannon’s Class” podcast, which the company said “promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
Early Wednesday, Cannon responded to the firing in a lengthy Facebook post in which he demanded “full ownership” of “Wild ‘N Out” and an apology from ViacomCBS. Cannon also said that he reached out to Shari Redstone, who controls ViacomCBS through her National Amusements, Inc. company, “to have a conversation of reconciliation and actually apologize if I said anything that pained or hurt her or her community.”
Cannon later issued an apology Wednesday night for what he called “hurtful and divisive words.”
“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,” Cannon began in a Twitter thread Wednesday night.
He continued: “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.”
Soon after Cannon tweeted his apology, Fox broadcast network stood by his statement and issued its own, saying that Cannon would remain the host of “The Masked Singer.” Read more about that here.
The podcast episode in question featured an interview with former Public Enemy member Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin — who himself was fired from the hip-hop group for making anti-Semitic comments in a 1989 interview — and saw the pair repeatedly reference fringe conspiracy theories about Jewish people.
Morning radio family. I have decided to take some time away from my radio show so I can commit myself to deeper, more thorough reflection and education.
— Nick Cannon (@NickCannon) July 16, 2020