American actor Nick Cannon received strong backlash over controversial comments on his podcast "Cannon's Class", after he said that white people are "closer to animals" and are "acting out of a deficiency so the only way they can act is evil".
“When you see a person that has a lack of pigment, a lack of melanin, they fear that they will be annihilated,” Cannon said. “So, therefore, however they got the power, they had a lack of compassion. Melanin comes with compassion, melanin comes with soul. We call it soul. You know 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...[] So they are the ones that are actually closer to animals, they are the ones that are actually the true savages”.
The footage of Cannon saying this immediately went viral, causing outrage among many netizens.
Some users accused the actor for being racist, promoting "black supremacy" and compared his remarks to that of Nazis.
Some suggested that Cannon learn his history, recalling that not only white people conquer and kill.
Others referred to the so-called cancel culture, urging to imagine what kind of fury would a similar remark from a white celebrity made towards the blacks cause.
Some users labeled Cannon "delusional", suggesting that he might believe that Wakanda - a fictional Marvel comics' country located in Africa - is real.
Cannon later apologized via a tweet, implying that he did not mean to condone hate speech and that he had "no hate in his heart". He announced that he "took full responsibility" of his words.
Viacom CBS later announced that they had terminated their relationship with the actor due to his controversial remarks.