Nick Cannon reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. This means the Masked Singer host will not be in the first few episodes of the premiere of the fifth season.
Niecy Nash will fill-in for Cannon as he rests and quarantines following his positive COVID diagnosis. FOX expects him to return later in the season.
The Masked Singer is scheduled to premiere in March with Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, and Robin Thicke as panelists.
This news comes after Nick Cannon’s daytime talk show was revived following the anti-semitism controversy.
“It’s been a longtime dream of mine to host my own daytime talk show and that I’m able to do this in New York City, bringing daytime television back to the place that has fostered generations of talent, is very special to me,” Cannon said in a statement.
“With this show, we’ll be uniting all aspects of entertainment in a unique way in the very place where a lot of what we know today as our culture started,” the statement reads. “I couldn’t ask for better partners than Debmar-Mercury and Fox and thank them for supporting me in this endeavor.”
The talk show, entitled Nick Cannon, was originally set for a September 2020 release. However, during an episode of his Cannon’s Class podcast with a former Public Enemy member, Professor Griff, Nick spoke on the ancient history of Jewish and Black people and was condemned by many who called his remarks anti-semitic.
“It’s never hate speech, you can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people,” he continued. “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright.” Cannon’s comments came across as if he was dismissing the white Jewish experience and the idea that they could also encounter anti-Semitism.
After his comments surface, ViacomCBS cut ties with Cannon, effectively ending his hit TV show Wild ‘N Out after 15 seasons. While his daytime talk show was not canceled altogether, it was postponed. In an effort to reconcile and impress the executives at ViacomCBS, Nick went on an apology tour and dedicated time to educating himself.
