In an interview with 'Forbes,' the rapper notes he couldn't deal with having as many kids as the 'Wild'n'Out' host.
50 Cent may consider expanding his family, but he has a limit.
In an interview with Forbes' Brian J. Roberts, the 48-year-old rapper -- born Curtis Jackson -- talks about how he's learned from past mistakes when it comes to buying extravagantly to symbolize his success. He specifically recalls his decision to buy his Farmington, Connecticut, mansion back in 2003, which the rapper admits he regrets.
The GRAMMY winner bought the mansion from the ex-wife of former champion boxer Mike Tyson for $4.1 million, following the success of his album, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The colossal house is 50,000 square feet, featuring 52 rooms, a monumental cathedral atrium, a grotto pool spa, a full night club with a casino room, two billiards rooms, a basketball court, a recording studio, and of course, a helipad.
50 spent $72,000 a month for the 50+-room home, an amount that covered his mortgage, property tax, insurance and utilities. He also paid $5,000 for gardening and $9,000 for "security and protection."
Talking to Forbes, the rapper sagely notes that the excessive show of wealth was hugely unnecessary, pointing out that even with all the amenities, you'll still only occupy the same amount of space as in a smaller house. "...You still gonna sleep on one bed... So if you're not in that mode where you wanna bring that many people around for you to entertain them, then you're not good," he says. "I was looking around like, 'Yo, why did I buy this s**t? Like I looking, going, 'What the f**k made me buy this s**t?'"
"If I had Nick Cannon's 12 kids or s**t like that, you could put them all in a bedroom. Everybody's here," 50 jokes. "But I'm not going to have kids like that. I don't want the responsibility of that many women that you got to deal with emotionally, especially after they don't feel like your friend anymore. I don't know what the f**k is wrong with Nick Cannon."
Although he was joking, 50 quickly corrects himself, saying that the "old 50 Cent" slipped out and he is now the "new" version of himself. He also explains that he said that because Cannon said something about him during one of his shows.
50 currently shares 10-year-old son Sire with actress-model Daphne Joy, and 26-year-old son Marquise Jackson, with former partner Shaniqua Tompkins.
On the other hand, Nick Cannon has fathered 12 children with six women over the last 12 years, with five of those kids currently under the age of 1.
Cannon shares 12-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe, with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey. He also shares Rise, 11 months, Powerful, 2, and Golden, 6, with Brittany Bell as well as Beautiful, 9 months, and Zion and Zillion, both 2, with Abby De La Rosa. The youngest of his kids are Halo, 8 months, with Alyssa Scott, along with Legendary, 1, with Bre Tiesi, and Onyx, 11 months, with LaNisha Cole. He also welcomed his late son Zen with Scott.
The 42-year-old media personality is exceptionally candid about his large family, regularly making headlines as he shares how he tries to be present in all of his children's lives.
Back in May, he fired back at being called a "deadbeat dad" while revealing his jaw-dropping annual salary.
"I've been villainized," Cannon told the Los Angeles Times regarding scrutiny over his many partners and kids. "I hear all the time: 'You can’t be present for all those children.' So therefore I get this deadbeat dad title."
After refuting a report in November that he paid $3 million in child support per year, claiming the figure was actually much higher, Cannon said that $3 million is "not a lot of money."
"When you think about my lifestyle, I have to generate at least $100 million a year," he told the Times, clarifying that, yes, he does earn as much.
"Everybody thinks Ryan Seacrest has tons of money. I do everything that he does times 10. Well, not times 10 -- times three. Because he does a lot," The Masked Singer host shared.
Among his notable endeavors are TV hosting gigs that include The Masked Singer -- for which he says he's paid $20 million -- and Wild 'N Out, along with a guest stint taking over for Jamie Foxx on Beat Shazam. There's a Wild ‘N Out arena tour and themed bars in San Diego, California, and Miami, Florida, which he owns. He's also the co-owner of the Hollywood Hills restaurant, Yamashiro.
His other current projects include E!'s Celebrity Prank Wars, Amazon Freevee's Counsel Culture, BET's Future Superstar Tour, the film Hollywood Heist co-starring Alec Baldwin, his daily AMP radio show The Daily Cannon, the #2HateorNot2Hate podcast. He has his own music imprint, Ncredible, and is currently writing his second romance novel, based on his personal life and described, in his words, as "an urban Fifty Shades of Grey."
The Los Angeles Times also noted that Cannon is working on his master's degree in child psychology and a Ph.D. in divinity.
Explaining how he came to be a father of 12, Cannon said he's a hopeless romantic and a people pleaser. When a number of his partners expressed anxiety about their biological clocks during the pandemic, Cannon delivered.
"A lot of them are in the same age group," he shared. "And I just wanted to give them what they desired. I kept saying, 'I can handle it.'"
While Cannon has long been open about his polyamorous lifestyle -- once referring to it as "consensual non-monogamy" -- he shared an update on how he decides where to sleep each night.
"A lot of times it's whichever of them has called me that day, to be honest," he admitted. "I am such a creature of habit. I like who like me."
Although, he added with a laugh: "Because everybody's so busy, nobody's looking to have sex with me... Everybody’s focus is the children."
And while he admitted to feeling guilty about having limited time with each of his kids, he does his best to make each moment count.
"It's not about what I do for you or what I say to you, it’s about how you feel when I’m with you," he said. "If you feel loved when you see your dad, that’s what’s gonna resonate."
In the end, Cannon feels he's in good fatherly company. Eddie Murphy has 10 kids with five different women, while Clint Eastwood has eight children with at least five partners, among other examples.
"I mean, Muhammad Ali had a bunch of kids and he was the greatest fighter there ever was," he said. "Bob Marley got more kids than I got. These are great men."
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