Nick Cannon was fired in July from his gig at ViacomCBS for making anti-Semitic remarks. He isn’t taking the termination sitting down. He created the highly popular show, the “Wild ‘N Out” series that airs on MTV and VH1 for ViacomCBS.
Cannon plans to sue ViacomCBS for $1.5 billion, claiming ownership of the “billion-dollar brand,” according to The Shade Room,
“It is just that simple, ‘Wild ’N Out’ belongs to Nick!” Cannon’s team said in a statement. “The show was created by Nick Cannon with his idea and original thought. ‘Wild ’N Out’ has brought billions of dollars in revenue to Viacom since 2015. And Nick deserves and has earned everything it is worth.”
Cannon plans to use proceeds from the lawsuit to invest in education in underserved communities, create psychological programs and youth organizations, and develop inner-city communities, Rap-Up reported.
“If Viacom believes in growth, equality, education, then Viacom will do what is right and pay Nick what they owe, and giving him his $1.5 brand,” his team said.
ViacomCBS cut ties with Cannon following comments he made on his “Cannon’s Class” podcast. He discussed conspiracy theories about Jewish people and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for anti-Jewish comments.
In an open letter posted to Facebook, Cannon slammed the media giant, claiming it swindled “Wild ‘N Out” away from him.
“I created a billion-dollar brand that expanded across a multitiered empire that is still Viacom’s biggest digital brand, touring business, talent discovery, and incubation system, and successful restaurant franchise. Based on trust and empty promises, my ownership was swindled away from me,” he wrote. “For Viacom to be so deceptive is no surprise; they have been mistreating and robbing our community for years, underpaying talent on their biggest brands like Love & Hip Hop, all of BET programming and of course, ‘Wild ‘N Out.’”
Cannon did apologize for his anti-Semitic comments.
“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,” Cannon said.
He has been educating himself on Judaism and announced plans to unify the Jewish and African-American communities.
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Cannon insists he has fully owned the situation, and that Viacom had a different motive in his termination — to take control of his show.
“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,” Cannon said, according to HipHopDX. “So let’s embrace those as well as each other. We All Family!”
