Nick Cannon’s syndicated talk show, set for this September, is off the docket.
Lions Gate and producer Debmar-Mercury have put it off for at least a year, if not forever, following Cannon’s firing by Viacom thanks to his anti-Semitism scandal.
“The ‘Nick Cannon’ talk show will not debut this year,” Lions Gate’s Debmar-Mercury, the show’s producer and distributor, said in a statement Friday. “After conversations with Nick, we do believe that his public comments don’t reflect his true feelings and his apology is heartfelt and sincere. 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. It runs counter to everything we stand for.”
I doubt we will ever see this show, despite it having been cleared in almost all of the country. This just gives the producers time to let the heat of the scandal wear off before they find a new host. Nick would have to do something he hasn’t done so far– go on a full scale apology tour that actually seems genuine– before it could work.
So this leaves just Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch, that hasn’t pulled the plug on a Cannon project, “The Masked Singer.” They’re probably freaking out right now because if they do take Cannon off, the audience will revolt. But if they keep him on, the audience will be equally upset. And boy, can you imagine the jokes or even parodies of “The Masked Singer”? I’ll leave them to your imagination.
