Former NBA star Dwyane Wade voiced support for Nick Cannon on Wednesday afternoon after Cannon was terminated by ViacomCBS for making remarks that were widely deemed as anti-Semitic.
Wade tweeted, “@NickCannon We are with you✊🏿 Keep leading!”
Seattle-based conservative radio host Jason Rantz tweeted out a screenshot of Wade’s tweet after Wade deleted the tweet a couple of hours after posting it.
“After Nick Cannon was fired for his disturbing anti-Semitic vitriol, Dwayne Wade tweeted his support… but then deleted the tweet,” Rantz said. “I screenshot it below. What leadership was @DwyaneWade supporting?”
After Nick Cannon was fired for his disturbing anti-Semitic vitriol, Dwayne Wade tweeted his support… but then deleted the tweet. I screenshot it below. What leadership was @DwyaneWade supporting? pic.twitter.com/c0bFsILkQk
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 15, 2020
ViacomCBS announced in a statement yesterday that it had terminated its relationship with Cannon:
ViacomCBS condemns bigotry of any kind and we categorically denounce all forms of anti-Semitism.
We have spoken with Nick Cannon about an episode of his podcast “Cannon’s Class” on YouTube, which promoted hateful speech and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
While we support ongoing education and dialogue in the fight against bigotry, we are deeply troubled that Nick has failed to acknowledge or apologize for perpetuating anti-Semitism, and we are terminating our relationship with him.
We are committed to doing better in our response to incidents of anti-Semitism, racism, and bigotry. ViacomCBS will have further announcements on our efforts to combat hate of all kinds.
Page Six reported that Cannon promoted fringe anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish people, including “the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything even outside of America.”
The statement from ViacomCBS did not directly address anti-white remarks that Cannon made in the same podcast.
“When you have a person that has the lack of pigment, the lack of melanin, that they know that they will be annihilated,” Cannon said. “So, therefore, however they got the power, they have the lack of compassion. Melanin comes with compassion, melanin comes with soul. We call it soul. Soul brothers and sisters. That’s the melanin that connects us. So the people that don’t have it, and I’m going to say this carefully, are a little less.”
“When they didn’t have the power of the sun, the sun then started to deteriorate them, so then they’re acting out of fear, they’re acting out of low self-esteem, they’re acting out of a deficiency,” Cannon continued. “So, therefore, the only way that they can act is evil. They have to rob, steal, rape, kill … in order to survive.”
“They had to be savages, they had to be barbaric, because they’re in these Nordic mountains, they’re in these rough … environments, so they’re acting as animals,” Cannon added. “So they’re the ones that are actually closer to animals; they’re the ones that are actually the true savages.”
Wade later claimed in a tweet that he was not expressing support or condoning Cannon’s remarks.
“I want to clarify my now deleted tweet,” Wade tweeted. “I was not supporting or condoning what Nick Cannon specifically said, but I had expressed my support of him owning the content and brand he helped create.”
I want to clarify my now deleted tweet. I was not supporting or condoning what Nick Cannon specifically said, but I had expressed my support of him owning the content and brand he helped create 🙏🏾
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 15, 2020