Nick Cannon, the former host of “America’s Got Talent” and current host of “The Masked Signer,” had Richard Griffin, better known by his rapper name, Professor Griff, on his podcast two weeks ago only to have long stretches of conversation in which they both spout anti-Semitic slurs.
The 90-minute episode of “Cannon’s Class” included severe slurs toward Jewish people, including the claim that they suppress black people, who are the true chosen people of Israel. Cannon also referred to the leader of the Nation Islam Louis Farrakhan, whose anti-Semitism has been widely known and publicized, as the “honorable Minister Farrakhan” and praised his work throughout.
Cannon asked Griff why, given that black people are the “true children of Israel,” is it considered problematic to speak the truth?
“It became a problem for us because of the propaganda machine. But it’s more of a problem for them,” Griff said. “They’ve taken our birthright.”
The two attributed some of the confusion over birthright to others not wanting black people to have what they were naturally given, “Even though we [are] the true Hebrews,” Cannon said.
Others misinterpret the message of their birthright, Griff said, because they’re upset that black people “came back to claim it.” He then likened the situation of fighting for Holy Land to retrieving one’s stolen bicycle after you see the person who stole it flaunting one’s property. Griff also criticized media censorship as part of the propaganda machine in perpetuating the idea that Jews are the natural inhabitants of Israel.
“We can’t even tell the truth now. Not on records, not on television shows. If that’s truly our birthright, there’s no hate involved.”
They further discussed ways in which Jews have exploited the world, including references to the Rothschild family’s legacy. In conjunction with his claims that black people are the real Semitic people, Cannon said he can’t be anti-Semitic because he himself is Semitic.
This is just the most recent example of Professor Griff’s long history of anti-Semitism. The rapper formerly belonged to the group Public Enemy before he was forced out in 1989 for a series of hateful comments, reported by the magazine “Spin.” Griff’s controversial statements included saying, “If the Palestinians took up arms, went into Israel and killed all the Jews, it’d be alright.”
In a 1989 interview with the Washington Times, he argued Jews have caused the majority of the world’s evil. He also put forth the utterly unsubstantiated claims that Jews finance AIDS experiments on black South Africans.
During the show with Cannon, Griffin stood by his anti-Semitic comments made during the Washington Times interview. He said he was only ousted by his group and remains a controversial figure still today because he was brave enough to spread truth.
Cannon’s anti-Semitism has caught fire before, too. In 2013, the Anti-Defamation League publicly criticized Cannon for appearing in a video by a group they consider to be the nation’s largest antisemitic and racist black militant group, the New Black Panther Party.
Cannon filmed the episode last year but posted it again last month in light of the renewed national interest in racism in America. The subject matter of “Cannon’s Class” has been strictly racial in recent months, often supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in America and criticizing police.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Jewish Insider “anyone seeking a Ph.D in Jew-hatred should watch this ‘interview.’”
