TV star Nick Cannon is no stranger to controversy about his ever-growing family, but his latest confession has fans doing a double-take. The 44-year-old celebrity, who famously fathered 12 children with six different women, admitted this week that he may have rushed into parenthood and now calls his choices “careless.” Additionally, Nick Cannon said that he should’ve done things differently before fathering 12 kids.
This statement was made during an appearance on The Breakfast Club radio show on Monday, where Cannon reflected on his tumultuous fatherhood journey and revealed that therapy has changed the way he views his past decisions. The actor, comedian, and mogul says therapy has compelled him to take accountability.
“If I would have did the work and the healing … I probably would have took my time in a lot of other scenarios… Things might have been a little different.… I didn’t get a chance to slow down until I got in therapy… Then I looked up, 12 kids later, and I’m like, wow, I could have did things very differently,” according to Nick Cannon
Two of these kids were with Mariah Carey, with whom Cannon also had his first divorce. Since then, Cannon hasn’t remarried but entered into several consecutive relationships. Here’s the rest of the interview:
The Masked Singer host further explained that his 2016 divorce from pop superstar Mariah Carey left him reeling. Instead of slowing down and dealing with his trauma, Cannon admits he got too careless and “frivolous with my process.”
Still, despite his realizations, Nick Cannon has claimed that he doesn’t exactly regret having 12 kids because those kids were born out of love. He did claim that only some of these relationships with his 12 children resulted in strong bonds, though it’s not clear whether just how equal the attention or care was for the other children. In the past, Cannon has also stated that “I think I’m done” with having kids.
People online don’t buy Cannon’s explanation
Apart from the fact that contraceptives exist, Cannon’s critics, notably people online, were not exactly sympathetic with his situation. Some have made fun of his excuses, while others have pointed out just how irresponsible Cannon was. Others were laughing at how late Cannon realized something people around him did whenever they heard news about his relationships.
“nooooooo sh*tttttttttt. hopefully drumline reruns are lucrative,” says a Reddit user
“F*ck this guy.”
“‘Frivolous with his process'”
And then there were also those worried about the future of the kids that Cannon fathered, as well as the mothers, because they think there’s no way Cannon has enough time for everyone. Some people online have since called out Cannon for sharing his trauma and passing it down several generations, all because he couldn’t get over Mariah Carey.
“Regardless of his financial means, there’s no way he can be physically present in all 12 kids lives. Not in a meaningful way. Holiday and birthday photos don’t cut it. I’m more sad for the Mom’s tolerating it so they can stay in rotation (and I say that as kindly as possible)”
“All of his children will probably wind up in therapy because he wouldn’t.”
“Honestly he needs to zip his lips and actually focus on being a father to all his kids. I would be devastated if I was one of them and having my dad talk about me and my siblings like this.”
