Nick Cannon may have a road back from his firing from ViacomCBS, according to Variety, potentially leading to the comedian’s return to MTV and his long-running comedy series. After anti-Semitic comments made on his podcast back in July, Cannon was let go by the company, leading him on a soul-searching journey to “make amends” for his offensive comments.
According to Variety, President of Entertainment and Youth Brands Chris McCarthy praised Cannon for the work he’s done since ViacomCBS cut ties. While speaking with employees at a town hall on Monday, McCarthy said he was “hopeful” ViacomCBS and Cannon could “rebuild” their relationship.
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“I struggle with the fact that Nick, a longtime partner and friend of ours, is on this journey and we’re not part of that journey,” McCarthy detailed, responding to a question about Cannon. “I am hopeful we find a way to bring these two things together and hopefully we will have the opportunity to do that with Nick again.”
Variety reports that both McCarthy and Cannon have allegedly spoken in recent weeks, but the company declined to comment on the report. The outlet adds that there is no plan to bring Cannon back to work with the company at the moment.
Cannon’s comments from the June 30 episode of his Cannon’s Class podcast included claims that Black people were “true Hebrews” and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about “Zionists” and the Rothschild family. All ideas that have floated around for quite a while and have been debunked several times.
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” Cannon said according to Variety. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.” These comments led to ViacomCBS cutting ties and jeopardized the host’s position with Fox and The Masked Singer.
While some supported Cannon and claimed he shouldn’t have apologized, the former America’s Got Talent host has shown remorse for his comment while doing his part to atone. He reached out to Rabbi Abraham Cooper on a podcast episode at the end of July and explained his intentions behind the controversial comments.
“I know how you could have taken many of the things that I said as hate and propaganda, but that was never my heart and intentions, I was talking about how amazing Black people were, but it hurt so many people that weren’t a part of that community while I was trying to encourage and uplift my own community,” Cannon said to Cooper, asking for help to educate him going forward. “I’m asking to be corrected from your community. Give me books. Teach me. I’m an empty vessel — an empty broken vessel. Teach me. Fix me.”
If Cannon can find a way back, it would mend a business relationship that spanned decades of success across several brands. Cannon’s role on The Masked Singer will continue when the show returns.
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