Why Nick Cannon Is Fasting In Solidarity With The Jewish Community On Tisha B’av
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Nick Cannon posted a lengthy caption on Instagram describing how he has participated in the Jewish day of remembrance, Tisha B’av for the first time. It is “a 24-25-hour period of fasting in remembrance of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.” Nick previously was caught in a controversy after making anti-semitic remarks on his podcast that led him to be fired from Viacom.
Nick Cannon Fasted For Tisha B’av And Is Learning About The Jewish Community
After wiping his Instagram clean of virtually everything, Nick started with a blank slate as he continues to apologize to the Jewish community for his comments. He posted “As I rise after a full day of fasting, meditation, study and prayer honoring for the first time Tisha B’av.” He went on to talk about the significance behind the day, and how it “is often known as the saddest day in Judaism because many other travesties occurred on the 9th day of Av in the Hebrew calendar.” He also made it a point to write a book report on “How to Fight Anti-Semitism” by Bari Weiss. This will be the first of many book reports for Nick who promised his fans he would do one every time he finishes a book.
SEE ALSO: NICK CANNON SHOCKED HIS ‘OWN COMMUNITY’ TURNED ON HIM FOR APOLOGIZING TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
He chose this book because the author’s story was one that he could resonate with. He spoke about “The author, who just days ago resigned from the New York Times for many reasons, one specifically being bullied on Twitter.” This was very relatable for him. “Ironically I became aware of her from one of her retweets on July 12 of a harsh name-calling article about myself with a thread that referred to me as a racist pig, brainwashed, ignorant and even a Nazi, and many other disrespectful things about me and my family.” He put the idea out there for the author to come on his podcast Cannon’s Class because he thinks they have the same goals in regards to building their communities. He praised the author for bringing up and denouncing hateful acts against the Jewish community and why “the baseless hate for an entire community must end and that any reminding rhetoric deserves a sincere apology.”
Nick Also Pledged To Donate His Salary To A Jewish Holocaust Center
Nick has put out several public apologies to the Jewish community including one that saved his job on The Masked Singer. “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 Facebook after the incident. “They reinforced the worst stereotypes of a proud and magnificent people and I feel ashamed of the uninformed and naïve place that these words came from.” The video of this podcast interview has been removed. Fox announced that Nick would continue on as the host of the popular show after pledging that he was committed to educating himself more about the Jewish community.
Nick reportedly recently visited the Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance. He spoke with officials and heard stories from Holocaust survivors. He also looked at “The Hitler Letter” which offers a first glimpse at the dictator’s anti-semitic ideas. Nick also made a promise to donate his first paycheck from season four of The Masked Singer to the Holocaust museum. The show is set to air this fall and has not yet begun taping. Nick also had a sit-down with Rabbi Abraham Cooper where they had over an hour-long conversation about the dangers of antisemitism.
RELATED: SEE NICK CANNON’S APOLOGY THAT SAVED HIS JOB ON ‘THE MASKED SINGER’
“I actually don’t like apologies because I feel like apologies are empty because, in that sense, you can say sorry as many times [as you want],” Nick said during the interview. “But if you don’t learn, if you’re not corrected and then you move forward, there’s no growth. There’s no healing … I’d rather sit down with someone of your stature to really correct me.”