Nick Cannon has addressed the antisemitic comments he made in 2020.
The 42-year-old was fired by US media giant ViacomCBS for “hateful speech and antisemitism”, following a podcast episode where he referred to white and Jewish people “savages”.
Cannon sparked further controversy after publishing a conversation on his YouTube channel with former Public Enemy member Professor Griff.
The interaction saw Cannon claim that white and Jewish people in positions of power have a “lack of compassion” as they do not have melanin in their skin.
“They’re acting out of fear, they’re acting out of low self-esteem, they’re acting out of a deficiency,” Cannon claimed. “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.”
Over the weekend, during a chat with AllHipHop, Cannon was asked if he learned anything from the 2020 experience.
“Man, I’m going to be super honest with you. That process was a growth moment for me, on so many levels as a man,” he said.
“And I even now, we have a podcast, myself and the CEO of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, called Solutions: To Hate or Not To Hate. And it’s really talking about the equation of our two communities from two different perspectives.
“We voice our side, or the perspective as a Black man, and then he voices his side from a Jewish man.”
He added: “Just even that alone is helpful and educational for both communities.
“And again, because that’s the thing, we can sit up here and be enraged, but if we don’t engage, what are we really doing, if we can’t even learn from one another? And clearly, we all know the issues, we all know the tropes, we all know the stereotypes.”
Cannon concluded by saying: “It’s just about bringing people closer together. Ultimately, nobody’s monolithic, but we’re all one organism that allows this thing to keep pumping.”
