Nick Cannon reveals likely reason why he fathered 12 children with six different women
American comedian and television presenter Nick Cannon has revealed the reason that probably made him father 12 children with six different women.
On the radio show The Breakfast Club, host Charlamagne tha God asked Cannon whether having a dozen kids is a form of trauma response.
"Yeah, a hundred (percent)," Cannon said. "I'm learning that now, yeah."
He explained that he "wasn't acting out," but more of being "careless" and "frivolous" with his process because he "could do it."
"I had the access to money. I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move," he said. "And you know, they coming at me, asking me."
Cannon noted that "life also happened," pointing out that having 12 children wasn't something he planned.
“It was more about like, 'Yo, I'm gonna just live life and have fun and whatever happens happens. I can handle it,'" he said.
Cannon said that as a 45 year old, he can sit back, wondering whether things "might have been a little different in certain scenarios" if he thought about the process "through a little bit more and took time to actually do the inner work."
Asked if he would have fathered 12 kids in doing the inner work, he said he doesn't know.
"That's the only thing... every child that I had was made out of love. And there were strong relationships," he said.
Nevertheless, Cannon believes things would have turned out differently if he had "done the work and the healing" after his divorce. He was referring to him and his ex-wife, singer Mariah Carey, officially calling it quits in 2016 after eight years of marriage.
“I probably would have took my time in a lot other scenarios,” he said. “And, for whatever reason, I thought that was the answer. A lot of times. Like, 'Oh, I'm gonna figure it out over here.'"
"But now you're leaving trauma every step of the way... instead of fixing it from its origin and then being able to present yourself," he added.
Despite having multiple mothers for his children, Cannon said he still believes in monogamy.
His children are Moroccan and Monroe, 14, with Carey; Golden, 8, Powerful, 4, and Rise, 2, with model Brittany Bell; twins Zion and Zillion, 4, as well as daughter Beautiful, 2, with radio personality Abby De La Rosa; Legendary, 3, with real estate agent Bre Tiesi; and Onyx, 3, with model LaNisha Cole; and Zen, who died at five-months old, and daughter Halo, 2, with model Alyssa Scott.
In 2023, Nick said he doesn’t mind having more kids in the coming years. "God decides when we're done, but I believe I definitely got my hands full—and I'm so focused, I'm locked in. But when I'm 85, you never know. I might,” he said in an interview on Entertainment Tonight.
But last June, he said in The Really Good Podcast that he thinks he's "done" with having more children.
