Nick Cannon will remain the host of The Masked Singer after apologizing for anti-Semitic comments he made on his most recent Cannon’s Class podcast episode. After ViacomCBS announced it was ending its decades-long relationship with the Wild ‘N Out host due to his comments, Cannon took to Twitter Wednesday evening to apologize for his remarks.
“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,” he wrote, adding that the episode of the podcast featuring the former Public Enemy rapper had been deleted. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naรฏve place that these words came from.”
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Cannon continued that while he had much more to learn about the Jewish experience, he had “at least a minor history lesson” over the past few days, which he called “eye-opening” to say the least. The actor then expressed his “gratitude” to “Rabbis, community leaders and institutions who reached out to me to help enlighten me, instead of chastising me,” assuring them that this would only be the “beginning” of his education. “I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward,” he concluded.
Following his apology, Fox said in a statement Cannon will remain as host of The Masked Singer. “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 in a statement. “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,” the network continued. “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.”
When ViacomCBS announced the end of its relationship with Cannon Tuesday, it said in a statement, “ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism. …While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him.”
