Nick Cannon has been dropped by US broadcaster ViacomCBS over controversial anti-Semitic comments he made on his YouTube show.
The Masked Singer US host found himself at the centre of backlash following theories he shared on his show Cannon's Class, when he stated that white people are "savages" and "a little less" than darker-skinned people.
He added that Black people are the “true Hebrews” and talked about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories involving the Rothschild family, reports Variety.
“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.”
Nick, the ex-husband of Mariah Carey, has now responded to the uproar in a post on his Facebook page - but avoided directly apologising in his carefully-worded statement.
"Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric. We are living in a time when it is more important than ever to promote unity and understanding," he wrote. "The Black and Jewish communities have both faced enormous hatred, oppression persecution and prejudice for thousands of years and in many ways have and will continue to work together to overcome these obstacles.
"In today’s conversation about anti-racism and social justice, I think we all - including myself - must continue educating one another and embrace uncomfortable conversations - it’s the only way we ALL get better."
He concluded: "Until then, I hold myself accountable for this moment and take full responsibility because My intentions are only to show that as a beautiful human species we have way more commonalities than differences, So let’s embrace those as well as each other. We All Family!"
The scandal resulted in Cannon's decades-long relationship with ViacomCBS, the parent company of Nickelodeon and the producers of his show Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out, coming to an end.
"ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism," a spokesperson said.
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