Nick Cannon quits America's Got Talent

Cape Town – Nick Cannon has quit as host of the popular reality show, America's Got Talent. 

Cannon, who hosted the show for eight seasons, posted a lengthy post on Facebook about his decision to leave the show.

He said in the post that he had been threatened with dismissal by executives after a racial joke he made on his Showtime stand-up special, Stand Up Don't Shoot.

In the post he writes, "I write this from a deeply saddened and dolorous mindset. After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened with termination by Executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke. This has weighed heavy on my spirit. It was brought to my attention by my "team" that NBC believed that I was in breach of contract because I had disparaged their brand."

See the full post here:

Watch a teaser for the stand-up show here: