Nick Cannon offers apology

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Nick Cannon

Nick Cannon has apologized for making racist remarks in a recent podcast chat, insisting he feels "ashamed of the uninformed and naive place that these words came from."

The Masked Singer U.S. host found himself at the center of backlash after he called white people "savages" and "a little less" than darker-skinned people, during a chat with Public Enemy star Professor Griff on his show, Cannon's Class.

He also suggested white-skinned people act "evil" and "rob, steal, rape, kill in order to survive" due to the fact they are not as strong as their black brothers and sisters.

His comments caused a storm online, with many people slamming Nick for his racist words, and led to U.S. TV network ViacomCBS severing ties with the 39-year-old.

Cannon initially issued a statement following the controversy in which an official apology was notably absent, but appeared to have had a change of heart shortly afterward - judging by his latest social media posts.

"First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin," he wrote on Twitter. "They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naive place that these words came from. The video of this interview has since been removed.

"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. That's our birthright. We are the true Hebrews."

He then took to Facebook to once again apologize for the comments, writing: "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.

"I have dedicated my daily efforts to continuing conversations to bring the Jewish community and the African American community closer together, embracing our differences and sharing our commonalities."

Meanwhile, despite ViacomCBS bosses firing Nick, officials at Fox - the network behind The Masked Singer - have decided to stand by the presenter.

In their own statement, they praised Nick for showing remorse and apologizing for his words, tweeting: "On that basis and given a belief that this moment calls for dialogue, we will move forward with Nick and help him advance this important conversation, broadly.

"Fox condemns all forms of hate directed toward any community and we will combat bigotry of any kind."