After a messy breakup this summer with ViacomCBS over perceived anti-Semitic comments, Nick Cannon and MTV may be closer to a revival of ‘Wild ‘N Out’, according to recent reports.
On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Variety reported Cannon and ViacomCBS president Chris McCarthy have been in contact and a reboot could be in the works.
“We continue to follow Nick’s journey and I’m impressed by how he’s owned his mistakes,” McCarthy told Variety. “He’s been an extended part of our family for almost 20 years and a personal friend of mine for almost half that. He’s leading by example, apologized and trying to learn to understand and help others do the same. That’s the kind of partner we want to work with.”
The popular show — which pits teams against each other playing the dozens — was pulled in July after Cannon said “we give so much power to the ‘theys,’ and ‘theys’ then turn into Illuminati, the Zionists, the Rothschilds” and called Black people “the true Hebrews” on his June 30 “Cannon’s Class” podcast.
“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,” Cannon said. “That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews.”
After public backlash, ViacomCBS severed ties with Cannon almost immediately and he lost several other business opportunities.
This isn’t the first time a reunion between Cannon and the company he worked with for over 20 years has been discussed. In August, McCarthy said he hoped Cannon and ViacomCBS could work together again during a town hall meeting with employees.
“I don’t know if anyone has been following Nick’s journey since the incident. I have, and the thing that’s unique about Nick, different from many others, is that Nick owned it,” McCarthy said. “He apologized, he said it was wrong. He has since been on a journey of learning and understanding, and more importantly, he is using his voice to help educate other people and is becoming an advocate on this issue. This is consistent with the Nick I’ve known for ten years … I struggle with the fact that Nick, a longtime partner and friend of ours, is on this journey and we’re not part of that journey.”
That “journey” by Cannon includes a public listening tour with rabbis and Jewish leaders to learn more about Jewish history and why his comments were deemed so offensive. Cannon also apologized ,stating his words “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.”
After receiving immense backlash from the Black community for his apology, Cannon caused concern when he listed “Heaven” as his location on social media and deleted all his Instagram posts. He also revealed he’d considered suicide in a later statement.
It looks like Cannon is happier these days as he’s been heavily promoting his show “The Masked Singer,” and is one of the featured speakers for Black Enterprise’s Nov. 12 to 13 Entrepreneur Summit.
Though McCarthy did not confirm whether the Wild ‘N Out return was imminent, Cannon’s producing partner Michael Goldman sounded optimistic.
“Chris knows who Nick is as a person,” Goldman said. “I trust him to get us there.”
Cannon has not publicly commented on the matter.
