ViacomCBS has reestablished its working relationship with Nick Cannon. The change, say company members Variety, comes as a result of the steps the artist and producer took to get involved and partner with Jewish leaders and make amends for anti-Semitic statements he made last summer that led ViacomCBS to sever his ties with Cannon.
The production of new episodes of Cannon’s long comedy series “Wild ‘N Out” is expected to resume at some point beyond the near future. Old episodes of “Wild ‘N Out” are returning to VH1’s linear programming this week.
“Nick not only apologized and took responsibility for his comments, but he also worked to educate himself and others through involvement with Jewish leaders and on their platforms,” said an MTV Entertainment Group spokesman. Variety. “These efforts are of the utmost importance and that is why we invite you to return to our team. On a separate note, we just learned that he tested positive for COVID and we contacted him to wish him a speedy recovery. “
Cannon has won praise in recent months from Jewish leaders for partnering with organizations in the Jewish community against anti-Semitism. In August, Cannon and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt co-authored an article in the Jewish newspaper Forward on the anniversary of 2017, the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the need for black and Jewish leaders work together. A month earlier, Cannon visited the Museum of Tolerance at the Simon Wiesenthal Center and promised a donation to the organization.
“He seems to be someone genuine in his desire to make sure people understand his apology,” Wiesenthal Center associate dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, told the Associated Press at the time. Cooper added that the spirit of Cannon’s dialogue with him seemed to be “How do we roll up our sleeves? What can we do together? ”Other Jewish leaders, including Greenblatt, Rabbi Noam E. Marans of the American Jewish Committee and Rabbi Motti Seligson of Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, have publicly engaged with Cannon and expressed support for his efforts.
When asked about the comment, the Cannon representative said it was not available as it is currently in quarantine after a positive test for COVID.
Viacom and MTV are partners with ADL in several initiatives – including a corporate culture code for the MTV Entertainment Group instituted last year under McCarthy and which the Museum of Tolerance, GLAAD and Color of Change also consulted. As part of this initiative, Cannon, Cooper and Greenblatt recently participated in a city hall with company employees. Last week, the MTV Entertainment Group marked Holocaust Memorial Day with a PSA featuring a variation of Martin Niemöller’s widely publicized post-World War II confessional, “First They Came …”.
Cannon claimed that blacks are “the real Hebrews” during a June 30 episode of his podcast “Cannon’s Class”, in which he credited false anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about “Zionists” and the Rothschild family. “It is never hate speech, you cannot be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people, when we are the same people they want to be.” Cannon said during an interview with rapper Richard Griffin, known for his decades-long history of hate speech against Jews. “This is our birthright. We are the true Hebrews. ”Comments were received with widespread outrage and ViacomCBS acted quickly to sever ties with Cannon, who created the long-running comedy program” Wild ‘N Out “and maintained deep ties to Nickelodeon’s child and family unit.
After his shot by ViacomCBS, Cannon was combative. He publicly insisted that ViacomCBS apologize to him and hand over the “Wild ‘N Out” property to him. “If I promoted hate speech, I apologize wholeheartedly,” wrote Cannon in a Facebook post. “But now I am making demands”.
Cannon’s other business partners were less eager to distance themselves from him. On July 15, the day after ViacomCBS broke ties with him, Cannon issued a second apology for his comments, along with Fox Entertainment’s announcement that he would remain the host of his reality show competition “The Masked Singer “, the best rated television entertainment program. Last week, Fox and Debmar Mercury struck a deal to move forward with a stalled plan to launch a daytime talk show hosted by Cannon. (Like Variety reported on Wednesday, Cannon has already tested positive for COVID and will therefore be absent from at least the first episodes of the new season of “The Masked Singer”, which opens in March.)
In August, the door for Cannon and ViacomCBS to reconcile appeared when MTV Entertainment Group President Chris McCarthy, speaking at the prefecture of a company, praised the work Cannon had done involving leaders of the Jewish community after his explosion and described himself as ” hopeful “that ViacomCBS would return to do business with Cannon.