Nick Cannon Gets Candid About His Mistakes as a Dad of 11

Cannon has welcomed children with six different women.

Nick Cannon is opening up about how he struggles to divide his time and energy between his 11 children. 

"I was willing to be there physically but I don't know if I was available at the level she needed me emotionally," the Masked Singer host said during a recent appearance on The Language of Love With Dr. Laura Berman. Cannon, 42, was speaking about an instance when he wasn't able to show up for two of this children and their mothers at the same time. 

Describing the situation, Dr. Berman said, "There was something going on, you know, nothing serious. But kids, you get these scares with them or these weird symptoms, or whatever. And so one of the babies, I don't know how many babies you have together, but your baby together was having some health concerns and she needed you emotionally."

"Another baby had a health concern and needed a prescription," Cannon added. 

"And so you, being the father, kids come first, and you were like, 'OK, I can do both!'" Berman explained. "'I'm going to go get the medicine [for this baby],' but [the other mother] needed you."

Cannon shares 12 children with six different women, including 12-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey. He and Carey were married, 2008 to 2016. Cannon is also dad to 2-year-old twins Zion and Zillion, along with 7-month-old Beautiful Zeppelin, with ex Abby De La Rosa. He shares sons Golden Sagon, 6, and Rise Messiah, 9 months, and daughter Powerful Queen, 2, with ex Brittany Bell. 

With Selling Sunset star Bre Tiesi, Cannon is father to 11-month-old son Legendary Love and also shares 9-month-old daughter Onyx Ice Cole with LaNisha Cole. Finally, he is also the father to daughter Halo Marie, 6 months, with Alyssa Scott. Cannon and Scott's son, Zen, died five months after his birth in December 2021 after being diagnosed with brain cancer. 

"And because of past trauma and triggers of me not being there, I probably was looking like I wasn't prioritizing," Cannon said.

"And they all have wounds, several of them, have wounds around not feeling like they are, and they compare to each other," Berman continued.

"Yeah, because I f**k up all the time!" Cannon said. "And my f**k-ups usually are because just of like, malpractice. Just being a dumb man. I didn't do what I said I was going to do, I forgot to call or I was late."

Cannon and Berman later discussed a recent incident in which he sent a Mother's Day card to one mom that was intended for a different woman. 

"There's nothing ever manipulative or vindictive. But things happen," Cannon concluded.

Cannon's comments come after his comments about how he splits time between children. 

"My beautiful daughter Onyx, that's probably the child that I spend the most time with, really," Cannon, who shares Onyx, 8 months, with LaNisha Cole, said during a recent appearance on the Jason Lee Podcast. "I'm with her at least three times a week, for the full day."

He continued, "LaNisha and I have a super strong understanding and our co-parenting operation is so solid. If you see me on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, my daughter's right next to me."

Despite this, Cannon maintained that his schedule with the newborn does not interfere with the amount of time he spends with his other children, as some are "in school" and some are still "babies."

"Not against all my other kids because all my other kids, they're in school, they're babies, as well as Onyx, but the fact that I appreciate that LaNisha gives me the respect enough to allow me to have her really, an equal amount of time as she does," Cannon shared.

RELATED CONTENT: