Nick Cannon had the backing of the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League and the president and CEO of ViacomCBS when he was rehired after apologizing for sharing antisemitic comments on his Cannon’s Class podcast in 2020.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Los Angeles Times, the television host, actor, rapper and comedian spoke about his media empire not being viewed as dynamic in the same way as Ryan Seacrest’s, his split from ex-wife Mariah Carey, why he turned down a major role in the Oscar-winning Crash, and what makes the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving backing a Holocaust-denial film — and the public backlash to that — different from the “wild shit” that Kanye “Ye” West has said.
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While discussing the latter, ADL president Jonathan Greenblatt — who currently co-hosts the Speak on It podcast with Cannon — said that he and Cannon spoke for three hours after a mutual friend of theirs reached out to him in the days following the entertainment personality and media mogul’s firing by ViacomCBS over “hateful speech.”
“Some of the things he said were very reminiscent of remarks that Louis Farrakhan has made over the years — that you can’t say a Black person is antisemitic because Black people are the real Semitic people and Jews are impostors,” Greenblatt told the Times of Cannon’s initial statements that led to his firing. (Cannon, who initially defended his statements in a lengthy Facebook post, eventually issued a full apology.)
Greenblatt says he agreed to meet with the Wild ‘n’ Out creator at the New York ADL headquarters — sans PR and entourage — on the condition that it was “nothing performative,” according to the Times. “I was really, really impressed,” Greenblatt said. “He displayed the kind of humility that I don’t think you often see in people of his level of public fame. And he seemed to be truly concerned about the hurt that he had caused and wanted to explore how to do better.”
The in-person discussions continued via video chat, where Greenblatt gave Cannon several books to read before the producer and actor came back “demonstrating a mastery of the material and understanding of the issues.”
Chris McCarthy, who heads Paramount’s media networks and Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, also shared his belief in Cannon’s personal growth.
“We began a plan where we couldn’t talk about the business until we corrected what was wrong,” said McCarthy, who kept in touch with the TV host, eventually visiting him at his home to discuss how to “repair the damage” of Cannon’s comments. “He fully owned it and leaned in, using it not only as a lesson for himself, but hopefully for some of the members of the audience that may have unfortunately shared some of his hurtful perceptions. ”
During the interview, Cannon also defended another frequent topic of discussion around him: his family structure. He told the Times that he makes upwards of $100 million a year — enough to support all of his children despite the “deadbeat dad title” he says he’s earned in the media. He also said that he goes to therapy to address guilt over not always feeling the most present for his children, and — in an effort to be with them and their mothers more — bounces from the homes of his various families daily.
Cannon says it works because each woman he’s fathered a child with knows “who they are” and would rather be in an honest partnership than with “someone who’s telling them they’re the only one but still fuck the neighbor.” While he sees marriage as a business proposition and thus is not interested in it, Cannon explained that “there’s nothing that they could ask [him] for” he would say no to.
Cannon said he even sometimes goes against his own beliefs to support the choices of his children’s mothers. That includes whether to get their children vaccinated, which some of the women don’t want for their kids, “and I go along with it,” he told the L.A. Times.
“I did everything I could have ever wanted to do as a teenager. I married Mariah Carey at 28. I went to South Africa with Nelson Mandela in my 30s,” he said. “Now, this is the next stage: How can I operate as the best father I can be?”
