Some people can’t handle a joke, especially executives. America’s Got Talent host Nick Cannon learned the hard way.

TMZ learned that over a month ago, Nick made a joke on his stand-up comedy special (set to air on Showtime tonight!) saying NBC made him lose his “black card,” insinuating the network wanted him to show less swagger — in other words, be less “black” — for the show.

Apparently, sources close to the situation told TMZ that NBC executives heard about the joke when Nick talked about it on the Howard Stern show; to them, it seemed as if he was disparaging he network, which is a violation of his contract.

TMZ also reports that his deal with NBC has a clause basically prohibiting him from talking about the network without their consent. And as a result, execs were seriously considering letting him go for breach of contract.

Fortunately, execs chose to forget it. Sources said they like Nick and don’t want to blow their relationship with him.

Phew!