Nick Cannon says ‘trauma’ made him father 12 children with six different women

Nick Cannon’s relationship to his success and fame has been marred by controversy — not just for his political opinions, but also for his personal life. Lately, however, Cannon has been reexamining his choices and has seemingly figured out why he decided to father 12 children with different women: it was apparently trauma.

Cannon has had a long and diversified career in entertainment. Today, he may be best known for his TV hosting gigs on America’s Got Talent and Wild ’n Out, but there was a time when he appeared in films directed by major filmmakers like Spike Lee and carried on a lackluster one-sided beef with none other than Eminem. Somewhere along the way, he entered into a relationship with Mariah Carey, with whom he had two children. After their split, Cannon became even more dedicated to fatherhood — and in the span of just five years, he went on to have 10 more kids.

Online, nobody seemed to understand this. Cannon became the subject of countless jokes, with comedians poking fun not only at the sheer number of children, but also at their names — Golden Sagon, Rise Messiah Cannon, Onyx Ice Cole, Legendary Love, and Powerful Queen, to name a few.

Initially, what forced Cannon to face himself was when he revealed he had narcissistic personality disorder. Thankfully, he explained that narcissism is a spectrum, and in his particular case he still had empathy and would not rage out at the drop of a dime over a small inconvenience. Which is great, because the last thing we need in the entertainment industry is another Kanye West. But Cannon did admit he thinks everything is about him. He also shared that he has a host of other psychological issues he’s dealing with, such as ADHD and severe trauma from his childhood.

During an appearance on The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne Tha God, the conversation turned to whether that trauma influenced his decision to have 12 kids. Cannon, with surprising candidness, agreed. According to People, Cannon said: “It wasn’t like I was acting out. It was more of being careless, being frivolous with my process because I could do it, because I had the money [and] because I had the access to whoever and however I wanted to move.”

Cannon stopped himself and clarified that he doesn’t regret any of his kids, because they were all born out of love. His son Zen, who died five months after his birth following a struggle with brain cancer, showed social media a different side of Cannon as he grieved openly with fans. Since then, he’s been very active in posting his children on his Instagram page.

The Wild ’n Out host did clarify, however, that he’s not completely against adding more kids to his family. He’s simply taking a pause for a couple of years. And as for romantic relationships, he has also not changed his mind on a non-monogamous lifestyle.

In a moment that was perhaps the most revealing in the interview, Cannon paused and said pensively that he hopes his daughters learn from his mistakes — and never date someone like their dad.