Howie Mandel wants Nick Cannon to know that you can go home again.
On Feb. 13, Nick announced he was leaving "America's Got Talent" after he heard that network producers discussed firing him for a few race-tinged jokes at NBC's expense, jokes he made during a Showtime comedy special.
Howie, though, is begging and pleading with Nick to return to the hosting gig.
"I'm doing my own campaign," Howie told a TMZ camera crew. "I'm going to look in the camera to say, please Nick, come back. He's gotta come back. I want him back. Right now it's in his court. Please Nick. If you want to come back, open arms buddy."
Howie, a judge on the show, said the new father is the "heart and soul of the show."
"I love him. I think he's underrated, and I just did a big thing on 'The View' where I begged him to come back, and I'll beg him to come back right here on TMZ," he said. "Please, for me, if for nothing else, not even for yourself, do it for Howie."
The whole fiasco started after some NBC executives became furious at the host for making a joke during the "Stand Up, Don't Shoot" special in which he claimed network executives wanted him to lose his "black card."
Execs reportedly thought that Nick was disparaging the network, which was a violation of his contract, as there was a clause that allegedly barred him from talking about the network without approval.
After all that, though, they decided it was water under the bridge. But, as the controversy was boiling over, Nick decided his "AGT" days were over.
"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," he wrote on Facebook. "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. In my defense, I would ask how so? Or is this just another way to silence and control an outspoken voice who often battles the establishment."