Over the course of his adult life, Nick Cannon has welcomed a total of seven kids into his life. On December 7, 2021, TMZ reported that one of Cannon’s kids, his 5-month-old son Zen, had died after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Cannon confirmed the devastating news on an episode of “The Nick Cannon Show.”
“I haven’t shared this anybody, really,” Cannon said in a segment called “A Message From Nick,” posted on YouTube. “I had a very tough weekend,” Cannon added, before jumping to the “pic of the day” segment. Cannon pulled out a picture of his youngest son, Zen Scott Cannon.
Cannon got emotional before he could get the next sentence out. “So, before the show started, in the summertime, Zen was born in June. June 23, actually. It was a great day. Y’all know I got a lot of kids,” he began.
Cannon went on to explain that he noticed that Zen always had a “sinus thing” or a “cough.” He also noticed that Zen had a big head, but Cannon said all of his kids did, so he didn’t pay too much mind to it. Nevertheless, Cannon and the boy’s mother, Alyssa Scott, took him to the doctor, where they received devastating news.
Here’s what you need to know:
Zen Was Diagnosed With a Brain Tumor & Died 4 Months Later
Cannon and Scott wanted to get baby Zen checked out by a doctor because they felt that he had something wrong with his breathing. After the doctor ran some tests, fluid was found in Zen’s brain.
The baby underwent immediate surgery for a malignant tumor, and the doctors at Children’s Hospital in Orange County put a shunt in his head in hopes of draining the fluid. Cannon said that he and Scott were “hoping for the best.”
Zen was able to go home, and seemed to be doing well, but things took a turn around the Thanksgiving holiday. “We had an interesting turn, and, the process sped up…the tumor began to grow a lot faster. And so, we knew that time was…” Cannon trailed off and began to cry.
Cannon said that he and Scott spent the past weekend with their baby. “Holding my son for the last time,” Cannon said through tears.
Cannon Welcomed 4 Kids Over the Past 18 Months
Zen was Cannon’s seventh child, his first with Alyssa Scott, according to E! News.
Cannon welcomed four kids over the course of the past 18 months or so, including twins Zillion and Zion with his now-ex Abby De La Rosa. The twins were also born in June. Cannon’s daughter, Powerful, whose mom is Brittany Bell, was born in December 2020.
Cannon also has another set of twins, Moroccan and Monroe, with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey. The pair was born in April 2011, and made Cannon a dad for the first time. Cannon and Carey separated in 2014, and finalized their divorce two years later.
In 2017, Cannon welcomed his third child, a son named Golden Cannon, with Brittany Bell.
Cannon is generally a private person when it comes to his family life, and he rarely posts photos or videos of any of his kids on social media.
Cannon Is Open to Having More Kids
During an interview with Dr. Oz in November 2021, Cannon was asked if he would be having more children in the near future.
“I don’t know, doc. What do you think? Where should I stop?” he responded, according to E! News.
“I don’t know how I’ll feel in five years. When people say, ‘Are you going to have more kids,’ that’s a difficult question to ask, unless I did have something like a vasectomy, because I don’t know if I’m going to find love again. I don’t know how deep I’ll go again. I don’t know. You never understand what the universe is going to present to you,” he explained.
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