Nick Cannon has been a popular topic on social media across the last few years, not just for his work across several mediums in the entertainment industry, but for his journey as a father.
Cannon currently has seven children with four different women, with his eighth child on the way with Bre Tiesi. He shares 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan Scott with his ex-wife Mariah Carey; son Golden, 5, and daughter Powerful Queen, 1, with Brittany Bell; twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, who will turn 1 on June 14, with Abby De La Rosa; and son Zen with Alyssa Scott, who died in December 2021 from a malignant brain tumor at just five months.
He has faced criticism for his large family and has been on the receiving end of an onslaught of jokes, including pranks from his own friend, Kevin Hart. Amid the chatter about his life and personal choices from social media and loved ones, Cannon set the record straight during a recent interview with Men’s Health when it comes to his presence in his children’s lives.
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m probably engaged throughout my children’s day, more often than the average adult can be,” he told the magazine. “If I’m not physically in the same city with my kids, I’m talking to them before they go to school via FaceTime and stuff. And then when I am [in the same city, I’m] driving my kids to school, like making sure I pick ’em up. All of those things, making sure [I’m there for] all extracurricular activities. I’m involved in everything from coaching to having guitar lessons with my daughter every week.”
The host of “Wild 'N Out” said that there is “a lot of toxicity” in a “traditional household” setting, saying, “It’s not about what society deems is right. It’s like, what makes it right for you? What brings your happiness? What allows you to have joy and how you define family? We all define family in so many different ways.”
Earlier in the interview, the 41-year-old talked about his love for his children and answered a question that many people have been asking in his life.
“People even often ask, ‘Are you gonna have more, you gonna stop?’” he said. “I’m like, those are questions that I don’t, I don’t really even sit around and think about. I’m just walking in my purpose and trying to be the best father and best provider I could possibly be.”
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In August 2021 during his appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” the host of “The Masked Singer” was introduced as “Nick, No Condom, Cannon,” and jokingly referred to himself as “The Fertilizer.”
During the interview, Cannon expressed that he finds monogamy and having one partner as an outdated concept in modern society.
“That’s a Eurocentric concept when you think about the ideas of, like, you’re supposed to have this one person for the rest of your life,” he said, later adding, “I understand the institution of marriage, but if we go back to what that is about, that was to classify property. A father gave another man his daughter for land.”
The month prior, during an appearance on Power 106 Los Angeles, after JT from the duo City Girls told him to “wrap it up,” Cannon replied, “I’m having these kids on purpose. I don’t have no accident!”
“Trust me, there’s a lot of people I could’ve gotten pregnant that I didn’t,” he added. “The ones that got pregnant are the ones that were supposed to get pregnant. ... You only live once.”
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