Comedian and TV host Nick Cannon defended his decision to dress up in white face from accusations of racism by claiming he has a white best friend.
“Look, people, how can I possibly be racist when one of my best friends is white?” Cannon told Entertainment Tonight when asked about the controversy. “He’s totally cool with me dressing up as a white guy. We tight like that.”
To promote his new album, “White People Party Music,” Cannon posted photos of himself in pale white skin makeup, a wig and flannel shirt as the character Connor Smallnut. Some media commentators compared the white face to offensive black-face minstrel shows of years’ past.
However, Cannon claimed his white friend wasn’t offended by the character, which made it OK.
“I can say stuff like honky and cracker, and since I have a white friend it’s all good,” Cannon said. “I mean, not only is my wife, Mariah Carey, half white, I even voted for Mitt Romney. That definitely proves I’m not a racist.
“I also have a gay friend, a Jewish friend and a Latino friend, so nobody can ever accuse me of being a bigot,” he added. “That’s why I can use homophobic and racial slurs whenever I want. That’s the rule.”
Cannon’s interview calmed the brief controversy, as many media outlets declared afterward that his white-face character is not racist.
“Everyone knows you cannot be racist if you have an ethnic friend,” Ebony magazine wrote. “Just ask Paula Deen or Dog the Bounty Hunter or Ted Nugent, or any American who has ever been accused of racism. Ethnic friends are the best insurance.”
