Following an overwhelming wave of criticism for comments made on his podcast, Wild N Out host Nick Cannon has issued an apology via Instagram to the Jewish community, which he admittedly says enforces negative stereotypes.
His statement, which has now been deleted from his page, reads,
“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. 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.
While the Jewish experience encompasses more than 5,000 years and there is so much I have yet to learn, I have had at least a minor history lesson over the past few days and to say that it is eye-opening would be a vast understatement. I want to express my gratitude to the Rabbis, community leaders and institutions who reached out to me to help enlighten me, instead of chastising me. I want to assure my Jewish friends, new and old, that this is only the beginning of my education — I am committed to deeper connections, more profound learning and strengthening the bond between our two cultures today and every day going forward.”
Cannon was fired from his job at Viacom on July 14 after comments were made on his podcast Cannon’s Class with guest former Public Enemy member Professor Griff that were viewed as anti-Semitic. The interview has since been removed
He still managed to keep his job as the host of the reality competition show The Masked Singer, which airs on Fox. The media outlet offered the following statement about Cannon: “When we were made aware of Nick Cannon’s interview with Richard Griffin on YouTube, we immediately began a dialogue with Nick,” said the Fox network in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”
Other media outlets, such as Diddy’s Revolt TV and Oprah’s OWN Network, stood in support of Cannon, offering the Drum Line star to bring his comedic game show to their screens.
