Nick Cannon's daytime talk show won't premiere in the fall as originally planned.
On Friday, Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury announced the comedian's eponymous show has been shelved until fall 2021, about a year after its original September premiere date. The news comes as the 39-year-old faces backlash over anti-Semitic comments made on a recent podcast.
"The Nick Cannon talk show will not debut this year. After conversations with Nick, we do believe that his public comments don’t reflect his true feelings and his apology is heartfelt and sincere," Lionsgate said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "We want to continue the healing process as he meets with leaders of the Jewish community and engages in a dialogue with our distribution partners to hear their views. We are standing by Nick in our hope that by fall 2021 he will be able to use his extraordinary talent and platform to entertain, enlighten and unite his audience on the Nick Cannon talk show."
"Lionsgate and Debmar-Mercury condemn anti-Semitism, racism and hate speech," the statement continued. "It runs counter to everything we stand for."
Cannon made the controversial remarks during an episode of Cannon's Class with former Public Enemy member Richard Griffin. ViacomCBS subsequently cut ties with the comedian/host, saying his comments "promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories." Cannon issued an apology to the Jewish community for "hurtful and divisive" words, after demanding full ownership of his MTV improv show Wild 'N Out.
"I demand full ownership of my billion-dollar Wild ‘N Out brand that I created, and [Viacom] will continue to misuse and destroy without my leadership," he wrote on Facebook earlier this week. "I demand that the hate and back door bullying cease and while we are at it, now that the truth is out, I demand the Apology!"
On Friday, the multihyphenate entertainer tweeted rather concerning sentiments following his apology to the Jewish community as well, saying that he "watched [his] own community turn on [him] and call [him] a sell-out for apologizing."
