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Nick Cannon’s family tree has been a constant subject of fascination—and criticism—over the years. The entertainer, 44, is father to 12 children with six different women, a reality that he now admits was less about careful planning and more about unresolved personal struggles.
Cannon’s blended family spans households, careers, and co-parenting styles. With his ex-wife Mariah Carey, he shares twins Moroccan and Monroe. With Brittany Bell, he has three children: sons Golden Sagon and Rise Messiah, and daughter Powerful Queen. Abby De La Rosa is the mother of his twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, as well as daughter Beautiful Zeppelin. He welcomed son Legendary Love with Bre Tiesi, daughter Onyx Ice Cole with LaNisha Cole, and two children with Alyssa Scott, including son Zen—who tragically passed away at just five months—and daughter Halo Marie.
It’s a sprawling, high-profile family tree, and even Cannon admits it hasn’t always been easy to keep track. But in a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, the comedian and TV host peeled back the curtain on why his fatherhood journey has unfolded the way it has.
“It wasn’t like I was acting out,” Cannon explained. “It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process because I could do it, because I had the money [and] because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move. Then, obviously, life happens as well. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go have 12 kids.’ It was more about, like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna just live life and have fun and whatever happens happens. I can handle it.’”
Cannon went on to say that he now recognizes his choices were tied to deeper issues. “If I’d thought the process through a little bit more, if I’d taken the time to actually do the inner work, things might have been a little different in certain scenarios.”
When pressed on whether that reflection meant he wouldn’t have had as many children, he hesitated. “I don’t know,” he said. “Because I’ve always said this: every child that I had was made out of love, and there were strong relationships. But if I would have did the work [and] the healing after getting divorced, I probably would have took my time in a lot of other scenarios.”
He also acknowledged the potential long-term impact of his choices, admitting that in some ways he’s “leaving trauma every step of the way instead of fixing it from its origin.”
As for whether the father of 12 plans to expand his family further, Cannon has hit pause—for now. “I really don’t know. I’m being honest,” he told People earlier this year. “I’m having so much fun in this space right now, and the way my bank account is set up, I’m going to press hold on this 12 for right now. Three years from now, five years from now—who knows? I’m not against it.”
For now, Cannon says, the focus is on balancing his sprawling family and coming to terms with how his past shaped the present.