Nick Cannon responds to backlash following anti-Semitic comments

Nick Cannon is raising eyebrows across the internet for the most recent episode of his YouTube talk show, Cannon’s Class, in which he openly promotes anti-Semitic and bizarre racial theories.

Cannon, 39, was speaking with former Public Enemy figure Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin, 59, who was sacked from the group in 1989 for making similar claims in an interview.

Despite referencing fringe conspiracy theories about Jewish people, including “the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything even outside of America,” Cannon repeatedly asserts that their conversation is not about hate. Griffin agrees, claiming that black people cannot be anti-Semitic, since, purportedly, the Semitic people and language are unrelated to Caucasians.

Cannon adds that Black people are “true Hebrews” and praises the controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

“The people that don’t have [melanin] are a little less,” Cannon also notes, claiming that “when they were sent to the mountains of Caucasus … The sun then started to deteriorate them so then, they’re acting out of fear, they’re acting out of low self-esteem, they’re acting out of a deficiency.

“So, therefore, the only way that they can act is evil. They have to rob, steal, rape, kill in order to survive. So then, these people that didn’t have what we have — and when I say we, I speak of the melanated people — they had to be savages … They’re acting as animals so they’re the ones that are actually closer to animals. They’re the ones that are actually the true savages.”

Following the initial outcry, Cannon released a statement on Facebook reading, in part, “Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric.”

“There’s no malice or negative intent, but in a time like 2020 we got to have these conversations,” he added in a statement to Fast Company. “And if there’s an assumption that is perceived as ignorant, let’s debunk it right away.”

He did, however, refuse to apologize, saying, “To me apologies are empty … What we need is healing. What we need is discussion. Correct me. I don’t tell my children to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I want them to understand where they need to be corrected. And then that’s how we grow.”

Griffin was kicked out of Public Enemy after he blamed Jews for “the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe” in a Washington Times interview, citing Henry Ford’s anti-Semitic work “The International Jew.” Farrakhan, meanwhile, has been identified as anti-Semitic and anti-gay by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Reached for comment by Page Six, Cannon’s team referred us to his Facebook post.

A spokesperson for ViacomCBS — where Cannon was named chairman of Teen Nick — released the following statement.

“ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism. We have spoken with Nick Cannon about an episode of his podcast ‘Cannon’s Class’ on YouTube, which promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

“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.”