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Why y’all acting like Nick Cannon wasn’t riding out for Black communities?

#BLM July 22, 2020
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Nick Cannon wears many hats and being an activist, in support of Black communities, is just one of his most prominent roles.

Last week, ViacomCBS fired Cannon following “hateful speech” in a recent episode of his YouTube podcast, Cannon’s Class. His conversation with Professor Griff, former Public Enemy rapper fueled controversy.

It’s only “wilding out” when a Black man speaks up

His comedy improv show, Wild ‘N Out, is ViacomCBS’s child company, so this means we won’t be seeing Nick wilding out any time soon.

Following the alleged anti-Semitic remarks, ViacomCBS issued a 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.”

The company continued,

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. We are committed to doing better in our response to incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry. ViacomCBS will have further announcements on our efforts to combat hate of all kinds.

Sincere apologies

On July 15, Cannon took to a Twitter thread to apologize for his comments and acknowledged his statements were hurtful to the Jewish community.

He continued,

Finally…

Surprisingly, the rapper didn’t receive the support he expected from the Black community.

By Friday, July 17, Cannon tweeted about the backlash he’s received following his apology regarding his comments about Jewish people being “true savages” because of the way they treated melanated people.

Why apologize, though?

Rapper Master P, along with many other Twitter users were not in favor of Nick’s apology. On Sunday, July 9, P told TMZ, “I hate that Nick Cannon apologized. He shouldn’t have did that.”

The rapper continued and said Cannon wouldn’t have had to apologize if he didn’t have to worry about losing his job.

Other Twitter users weren’t too happy about his decision. Some felt as if Black people have already done too much apologizing for the oppression they face daily.

FOX is still with it

Despite his removal from ViacomCBS, Fox, has decided to move forward with Cannon as the host of “The Masked Singer”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBs6jyrHHGV/

Fox News made a statement last Wednesday suggesting they were aware of Cannon’s podcast episode and addressed it with the rapper. FOX TV wrote in a small tweet thread,

He is clear and remorseful that his words were strong 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.

The road to redemption

Almost a week after Nick’s remarks on Cannon’s Class, Cannon sat with Rabbi Abraham Cooper to discuss the events.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC3xvdkBUUz/

Nick acknowledged he angered a lot of people, including the Jewish community. The Rabbi emphasized that he deemed Cannon’s apology as sincere. The two spoke about the conversation not being about hate, but rather a way to self-educate.

Complex reported Cooper will serve as a guide to Nick and will maintain contact with him while he continues to educate himself further.

Don’t cancel Nick, now

Rapper T.I. took to the Breakfast Club to discuss the conversations surrounding The Masked Singer host Tuesday morning.

T.I. stated that not everyone has to agree with Nick Cannon’s apology, but he shouldn’t deserve all the criticism.

“Whether you agree or disagree with the apology, you don’t use it to villainize or slander one of our national treasures,” Tip told The Breakfast Club.

He continued,

“I just really feel like if a mistake was made, then he has to rectify that mistake. But it ain’t our job to cancel him. First of all, let’s look at Nick Cannon’s career and reputation. Look at how many Black people he put in position and helped and got off of zero.”

Ultimately, cancel culture has immediate and also lasting effects. Cannon is widely known for his work towards uplifting the Black community, so if he is canceled, that’s another Black man being brought down.

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