After CBS canned Nick Cannon for spreading anti-Semitic conspiracies, he hosted Rabbi Abraham Cooper to discuss making amends.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
Media personality Nick Cannon appears to be trying to make amends for anti-Semitic comments made on his YouTube show “Cannon’s Class,” on which he spread false conspiracy theories about the Jewish people and their history and praised hate-preacher Louis Farrakhan.
This week he released a new episode of the show featuring Rabbi Abraham Cooper of anti-Semitism watchdog organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Asked by the Jewish Insider if Cannon was sincere in his outreach to the Jewish community and wanted to work to make amends, Cooper replied in the affirmative.
Cooper added, “If what I’m hearing is an interest and a commitment to want to do things together to move forward for the betterment of people, that’ll be the proof of the pudding.”
Last week, CBS Viacom fired Cannon after he hosted notorious anti-Semite Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin and the two ran through a “greatest hits of anti-Semitic conspiracies,” referencing the Rothschilds, global banking cabals, and fantasies about “fake Jews” stealing the “birthright” from the “true Hebrews.”
After getting axed by CBS, Cannon reached out to Cooper, who leads the Wiesenthal Center, which was originally founded to hunt down Nazi war criminals, but now specializes in educating people about the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism and intolerance.
Cannon invited Cooper to his home where he recorded the hour and 20 minute conversation and posted it on YouTube.
“I know how you could have taken many of the things that I said as hate and propaganda, but that was never my heart and intentions,” Cannon said in their conversation. “I was talking about how amazing Black people were, but it hurt so many people that weren’t a part of that community while I was trying to encourage and uplift my own community.”
Cooper and Cannon then talked about the anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, who Cannon previously defended. However, after hearing about Farrakhan’s numerous bigoted comments, Cannon said he “could never condone any of that… hateful demagoguery.”
Cannon admitted that it was hard for him to reconcile that with the “wonderful things from my perception” that he has heard from Farrakhan about Black empowerment. “That’s the only man I know who has ever peacefully brought together a million Black men at once for atonement.”
The two discussed how Cannon could learn more about the Jewish community and correct his past statements.
“I’m asking to be corrected from your community. Give me books. Teach me. I’m an empty vessel — an empty broken vessel. Teach me. Fix me. Lead me,” Cannon told Cooper.
Cannon said that after he after he apologized he started getting criticism from his own community.
“Everybody is throwing hate at me right now,” he said. “I made a lot of people mad. I made [the Jewish] community mad. I made my community mad by apologizing.”
Cannon said the Black and Jewish communities have much in common.
“We both come from communities that have been oppressed and just slaughtered,” Cannon said. “We should be allies because of our common oppression.”
Before the meeting, Cannon visited the Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, which teaches about genocide through the lens of the Holocaust.
Cooper told Jewish Insider he was hopeful that his conversations with Cannon have opened the door to further interactions.
“It’s not so much of changing minds, it’s a matter of opening up minds and opening up hearts,” Cooper said. “If you can do that, then we have a shot at it.”