Nick Cannon will appear Monday on the popular American Jewish Committee online program, AJC Advocacy Anywhere, for a candid conversation about antisemitism, racism, and Black-Jewish relations. The online series has attracted more than three million viewers worldwide since its inception in March.
In the June 30 episode of “Cannon’s Class,” the actor and TV host interviewed Professor Griff, a rapper who was a part of Public Enemy before leaving the group after making anti-Semitic remarks.
On the podcast, Cannon said Black people are the “true Hebrews” and talked about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family.
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” Cannon said. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
The live AJC program will take place at 2 pm (ET) on Monday, August 10. Register here in advance for AJC Advocacy Anywhere: A Conversation with Nick Cannon. It will be Cannon’s first appearance on a Jewish program.
The conversation with Cannon will be moderated by Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, who has met with the TV host and anchor in recent weeks.
Cannon was sharply criticized last month after he expressed blatantly antisemitic sentiments on his podcast. ViacomCBS severed its longstanding relationship with Cannon. AJC at the time praised ViacomCBS for standing up to antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem. It is a societal problem that threatens all minorities, indeed all of American society,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “When someone influential uses a very public platform to attack Jews, he must be called out. Otherwise, antisemitism will continue to spread.”
Cannon, following widespread condemnations, including by basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, expressed interest in learning more about antisemitism and how to overcome it.
Cannon has apologized, tweeting that his comments “reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people, and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.”
For more than a century, AJC has been a pioneer in advancing civil rights, Black-Jewish relations, and combating antisemitism.
https://www.ajc.org/news/nick-cannon-to-discuss-antisemitism-on-ajc-advocacy-anywhere-online-program
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