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Dwyane Wade says support for 'role model' Nick Cannon wasn't about hate: 'We've all made mistakes'
Dwyane Wade apologized and removed a tweet last week in support of Nick Cannon after the entertainer touted anti-Semitic hate speech during a podcast appearance.
On Monday, Wade talked about the incident during an appearance on NBA on TNT’s “The Arena.”
He clarified that his backing of Cannon was not intended to support his anti-Semitic rhetoric or hate of any kind. Wade, who has been a vocal supporter of his transgender daughter Zaya’s transition, said that he’s “a voice for love” and intended to support Cannon as a friend and a leader in the Black community.
. @DwyaneWade addresses Nick Cannon Tweet "I don't support hate speech, but I will support another black man that in America get thrown away all the time and Nick Cannon has been an unbelievable role model for us, we've all made mistakes" pic.twitter.com/c0NrEiG5n8
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) July 21, 2020
“I’ve always tried to be a voice for love,” Wade said. “I’ve always fought against hate. ... My support of Nick Cannon was not about his words. My support was not of hate speech at all.
“My support of Nick Cannon was as a Black leader in our community, as a friend.”
What Nick Cannon said
Cannon was fired by ViacomCBS last week after parroting rhetoric touted by Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as “deeply racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT.”
He talked about his views of Jewish people and white people in contrast with “melanated” people.
“So then these people who didn’t have what we had — and when I say we, I speak of the melanated people — they had to be savages,” Cannon said on a podcast appearance. “They had to be barbaric because they’re in these Nordic mountains. They’re in these rough torrential environments. So they’re acting as animals. So they’re the ones that are actually closer to animals. They’re the ones that are actually the true savages.
“So I say all that to say the context. And when we speak of whether it’s Jewish people, white people, Europeans, the Illuminati, they were doing that as survival tactics to stay on this planet. We never had to do that.”
Dwyane Wade’s response
Wade tweeted, then deleted “We are with you Keep leading!” after Cannon lost his job with ViacomCBS.
He then tweeted that he wasn’t supporting what Cannon said and that he has “zero tolerance for any hate speech!”
Wade wrote that he was instead supporting Cannon’s call to gain financial control over a CBSViacom projected he created. He echoed that thought on Monday while lauding Cannon for providing opportunities to Black people in the entertainment industry, calling him a “role model.”
Wade’s thoughts on cancel culture
“We live in this culture where it’s all about cancel,” Wade continued. “Everyone wants to cancel each other in this culture. How about we take this opportunity, and we sit down and educate each other.
“If anybody thought I was supporting hate speech, that’s not who I am. That’s not my character. But I will support another Black man that in America get thrown away all the time. Nick Cannon has been an unbelievable role model for us. ... We’ve all made mistakes.”
Wade said that he “got some education from friends” as well as from rabbis and people in the Jewish community in the aftermath of his controversial tweet, citing Cannon’s efforts to do the same.
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