Nick Cannon Addresses His Past Antisemitic Comments, Calls Backlash a ‘Growth Moment’

Nick Cannon addressed his history of anti-semitic comments and what he learned from the public backlash over them in a new interview that published Friday (March 24).

Speaking to All Hip-Hop, the host of The Masked Singer reflected, “I’m going to be super honest with you, man. That process was a growth moment for me, on so many levels as a man,” after the reporter lumped his past remarks about Jewish people in with similar antisemitic rhetoric from the likes of Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.

Cannon cited his podcast Solutions: To Hate or Not To Hate with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, as a way he’s shown growth on the issue. He said of the podcast: “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. 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.”

The singer-actor also said he’s “no longer about just talk.”

“I’m really putting my money where my mouth is and my energy to where my heart is,” the father of 12 said. “To me, that situation says, ‘All right, I’m done talking. Everybody talk. Let’s figure it out, let’s solve it. What’s the problem?’ The next people who say something in front of a microphone can have an understanding of what it is, so they don’t stumble and fumble and have to lose opportunities or get so-called canceled and all of that stuff on the next go around. Really, 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.”

Back in the summer of 2020, Cannon perpetuated controversial conspiracy theories about Jewish people on his now-axed podcast Cannon’s Class during a conversation with former Public Enemy member Professor Griff.

While he issued a public apology at the time, he was fired by ViacomCBS from his long-running MTV improv show Wild ‘N Out. (The media company has since resumed its working relationship with the star.)