Nick Cannon says Eminem ''knows better now'' than to keep their feud going.

The 39-year-old star invited Eminem onto his 'Wild 'N Out' show in December, after the hip-hop icon made derogatory comments about Nick's ex-wife, Mariah Carey, on the Fat Joe song 'Lord Above'.

Nick - who has been involved in a high-profile feud with the rapper for years - said: ''My response was his invitation to 'Wild 'N Out', and that still stands. You gotta remember, I was defending myself once again.

''He keeps bringing it up for decades. I'm one of those cats that matches energy. I don't do it - I overdo it. Even in high school, I was a little guy, but if you made fun of me, I was gonna make fun of you, your momma, and that's the same energy of 'Wild 'N Out'.''

Nick insisted he admires Eminem as a rapper - but he thinks he now ''knows better'' than to exchange insults with him.

The TV star - who was married to Mariah from 2008 until 2016 - told Billboard: ''I always give that dude his props as an icon in hip-hop. I think he knows better now. If he keeps talking about me, I'm gonna keep talking back.''

Nick also previously claimed Eminem was a ''product of institutional racism''.

The actor stands by his original accusation, saying the rapper is a ''guest in the house of hip-hop''.

Nick added: ''When you come from a culture that was built by a community that didn't have something of their own, but were able to embrace it and it became a new conduit of information for a new culture.

''And when someone comes in and shines in that medium and takes it to the masses, it's the same thing as [what] Elvis Presley [did]. There's nothing wrong with it, but you gotta accept it for what it is.''