Nick Cannon's daytime talker is being delayed one year, according to Lionsgate and its fully owned subsidiary Debmar-Mercury, which is producing and distributing the show.
"The Nick Cannon talk show will not debut this year," the companies said in a statement issued Friday. "After conversations with Nick, we do believe that his public comments don’t reflect his true feelings and his apology is heartfelt and sincere. We want to continue the healing process as he meets with leaders of the Jewish community and engages in a dialogue with our distribution partners to hear their views. We are standing by Nick in our hope that by fall 2021 he will be able to use his extraordinary talent and platform to entertain, enlighten and unite his audience on the Nick Cannon talk show.
“Lionsgate and Debmar-Mercury condemn anti-Semitism, racism and hate speech. It runs counter to everything we stand for.”
Cannon has been under fire for anti-Semitic comments he made on his podcast, Cannon's Class, during a conversation with Richard Griffin, a former member of rap group Public Enemy, who was thrown out of the group after making homophobic and anti-Semitic comments in the late '80s. During the conversation, Cannon said, "It’s never hate speech. You can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people, when we are the same people who they want to be," said Cannon. "That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews."
As a result, ViacomCBS ended its deal with him, even though he's had a 15-year relationship with the company via MTV's Wild 'N Out, which was created and is executive produced and hosted by Cannon. Cannon is suing ViacomCBS to maintain ownership of the franchise, from which he has spun off several restaurants.
Cannon later apologized in a lengthy Facebook post, but that hasn't been enough to keep all of his deals intact.
"I must apologize to my Jewish Brothers and Sisters for putting them in such a painful position, which was never my intention, but I know this whole situation has hurt many people and together we will make it right. I have dedicated my daily efforts to continuing conversations to bring the Jewish community and the African American community closer together, embracing our differences and sharing our commonalities."
Fox said earlier this week that Cannon would continue to host The Masked Singer, however. The Fox TV stations, which are owned by the same company as Fox Broadcasting, were Nick Cannon's main launch group with stations in major markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
