Nick Cannon says his ‘own community turned against him’ amid antisemitism row

Comedian and rapper initially refused to apologise for calling white and Jewish people ‘savages’

Nick Cannon has spoken out about the backlash to his antisemitic comments and subsequent apology on Twitter.

The rapper and comedian was fired earlier this week by by US media giant ViacomCBS for “hateful speech and antisemitism” following a podcast in which he called white and Jewish people “savages”.

Cannon also said that black people are “the true Hebrews” and referenced a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

After initially refusing to apologise, Cannon eventually said sorry for what he called his “hurtful and divisive words” on Wednesday (15 July).

In a new tweet, posted on Friday (17 July), he wrote: “I hurt an entire community and it pained me to my core, I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Then I watched my own community turn on me and call me a sell-out for apologising. Goodnight. Enjoy Earth.”

He followed up with another message 30 minutes later, writing: “Y’all can have this planet. I’m out!”

Despite ViacomCBS cutting all ties with Cannon, Fox announced it will not be terminating his role on The Masked Singer, which he has hosted for three seasons.

His forthcoming talk show has also not been cancelled, and instead pushed back to 2021.