Nick Cannon wants ownership of Wild ‘N Out after being fired for spreading anti-semitic conspiracy theories on his podcast
“I demand full ownership of my billion dollar Wild ‘N Out brand that I created, and [Viacom] will continue to misuse and destroy without my leadership,” Cannon wrote on Facebook.
Nick Cannon is demanding control over the Wild 'N Out brand after being terminated from ViacomCBS earlier this week. The firing came as a result of Cannon hosting Richard "Professor Griff" Griffin (formerly of Public Enemy) on a recent episode of his podcast “Cannon's Class,” where the two espoused anti-semitic conspiracy theories.
In the episode, which was posted late last month, Cannon says "you can’t be anti-semitic when we are the semitic people, when we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.” Later, he warns about granting too much power to the "they": “And then the ‘they’ turns into illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds.” Griff previously made headlines back in the late eighties for saying that "Jews are responsible for the majority of the wickedness in the world."
“ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-semitism," the company wrote in a statement issued on Tuesday. "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." We are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him."
Cannon has since responded with a lengthy Facebook post, in which he calls ViacomCBD "deceptive." "Based on trust and empty promises, my ownership was swindled away from me," he writes. "For Viacom to be so deceptive is no surprise; they have been mistreating and robbing our community for years, underpaying talent on their biggest brands." Later in the post, he apologizes to the Jewish community, and reveals that he will be visiting Israel to "receive teachings, lessons, and truth about the Jewish history," before once again focusing on ViacomCBS.
"I demand full ownership of my billion-dollar Wild ‘N Out brand that I created, and they will continue to misuse and destroy without my leadership," he writes. "I demand that the hate and back door bullying cease and while we are at it, now that the truth is out, I demand the Apology!"