Nick Cannon is opening up about the tragic death of his and Alyssa Scott’s son, Zen, who died of brain cancer and a subsequent tumor at just 5 months old in December 2021.
As fans may remember, Nick shared the news of Zen’s passing on the (now cancelled) Nick Cannon Show, which came as a shock to viewers, as Nick had not previously spoken publicly about his son’s health issues. According to Entertainment Tonight, keeping Zen’s diagnosis out of the news was something the father of 12 believed to be the best decision at the time.
“I kept the idea-– and maybe it was more out of optimism–- I’m gonna keep this in,” Nick shared recently during Men’s Health’s Hip-Hop Health: Mind Over Music event. “I’m not gonna tell anybody about what my family or what my son is going through because I don’t want to be sad … But in hindsight I probably should have talked to people, so it wouldn’t have been such a shock when it did happen.“
As for that particular episode of the ‘Nick Cannon Show,’ Nick said he didn’t know how he would deliver the news of Zen’s death, he just knew he “had to get it out.”
“ … I didn’t know what to say, I probably did some things, I know I did some things that I know weren’t the correct way to handle it, but I just had to get it out,” he said.
During the December 2021 episode, Nick explained to viewers that he had lost his youngest son “to a condition called hydrocephalus, that is [caused by] pretty much a malignant, mid-line brain tumor– brain cancer.” He also shared some of the health issues Zen had experienced from birth, which ultimately led Nick and Alyssa to have their son checked out by a doctor.
Nick also took a moment during the episode to share a message to Alyssa for “the strength that this woman possesses in this moment.”
“I apologize for so many things, but I just know if there’s any weight or anything that I’ve caused– I’m not gonna get everything right, this is difficult for the both of us– but I thank you for being that strength and being that rock,” he added.
In December 2022-– just over a year after Zen’s death–- Nick and Alyssa welcomed daughter Halo Marie.
As fans know, Halo is one of five kids The Masked Singer host welcomed in 2022 alone. Last year’s baby boom kicked off in July when Nick and Bre Tiesi welcomed son Legendary Love. Two months later, LaNisha Cole gave birth to daughter Onyx Ice and one week after that, Rise Messiah was born to Nick and Brittany Bell. (Brittany is also the mother of two more of Nick’s children– son Golden, born in 2017, and daughter Powerful Queen, born in 2020.)
In November 2022, Nick welcomed daughter Beautiful Zeppelin, born to Abby De La Rosa. (Abby and Nick also share twin sons Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, born in 2021.)
Nick is also a father to 11-year-old twins, Moroccan and Monroe, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Mariah Carey.
RELATED STORY: Nick Cannon Says He Isn’t On Child Support For Any of His Six Baby Mamas: “What They Need, They Get”
(Photos: Instagram)
Hydrocephalus isn’t cancer, was it supposed to say Hydrocephalus *and* cancer? Either way, rest in peace little one! 💔
The hydrocephalus was caused by a tumor.
I feel beyond horrible at the loss of their son. It’s not a feeling I would wish on the worst person on the planet, regardless of how I feel about that person. There is no pain on earth that comes even close to that feeling. I wouldn’t wish it on him either, even though I think he’s a pos.
That said, him pretending he just wanted to keep that to himself is a load of horse poop and we all know it. Since the baby’s passing he has used it at every turn to benefit himself in numerous ways, including financial (as if he really needs it). I am quite certain that he was sad when the baby passed, however I’m not sure he ever really mourned him, or necessarily loved him in the way a parent would and should. He spent as little time as possible with him during his short five months. Alyssa handled everything, literally, except for one or two outings he took with them for a short 15 min photo op. That makes me extremely sad, to be honest, because Nick is STILL capitalizing on his own child’s death and sees absolutely nothing wrong with it. He uses it as an excuse for his behavior, an excuse for his lack of parenting, an excuse for being hands off as much as possible with his dozen or so other children, an excuse for being a douchey hoebag. It disgusts me that he reduces the death of a child to so little, his OWN child!!! Absolutely gross.
Save for Mariah, none of the women he has fathered children with have a modicum of self respect. They obviously don’t respect their children either, even if they love them. It bothers me tremendously that people like him, and them, continue bringing people into this world that are going to think this is okay. I feel, deeply, for these children. Even if their moms take very good care of them, and love them, they are still all going to grow up knowing they are just one-of dozens at least by the time he’s done-and that both of their parents simply had the for the fame. All the women were well aware of who and what he was, and what he was doing.
So, with the exception of Mariah, the only woman he’s had children with, that I felt badly for, was Alyssa. To see him go on to impregnate MULTIPLE women, sleeping with them obviously unprotected, when the only thing he should have been doing was to support Alyssa in her grief and taking the proper time to grieve the situation, himself- in a way that wasn’t (likely) hurting her and using other women to distract himself from the situation. In a way that was productive and not acting as a band-aid. Not to mention in such a foul way. Anyway- you didn’t really hear of them having interactions after the death of Zen. All we saw was just that about 9 months later, a whole other litter of children were born to some new moms and then repeat offenders. When I saw Alyssa was pregnant with his child again, any sympathy I had for her- with the exception of sympathy towards actually losing her child- was gone. If I were her, I’d be embarrassed, and I would have quietly moved on and not had any more interaction with Nick. In dealing with Zen’s death, I found his actions to be completely disrespectful towards not only Alyssa, but Zen as well. But hey- if you want to have ANOTHER child, with a man that not only has MANY other children to be a father to, but a man that chose to sleep with multiple other women as a means of “Grieving” the loss of your son, then you need to dig deep and find some self love, and self respect, honey. It’s really sad to me.
Using this poor baby’s death for attention, he’s a gross disgusting man, there’s a time for privacy and this babies illness was one of them.
RIP little one.
As much as I think it’s gross that he literally impregnates everything he touches to stroke his fragile ego, I don’t think that the “fans” needed to know that his son had cancer. I can’t imagine losing a child at any age and my heart goes out to anyone that has experienced such a devastating loss. I don’t think I would share that very private journey with a bunch of strangers.
I can’t help but think that all of his baby mamas are damaged because none seem to care that he literally is making a basketball team of kids with multiple women in multiple states. Not to mention the fact that he obviously doesn’t use protection and he evidently sleeps with everyone. They need to all routinely check for STD’s.
I find this guy to be repulsive. He is sick. Impregnating mulitple women and spawning all of these children in such a careless way is not to be celebrated. The media should not give him the attention he is craving…this is irresponsible parenting and the children will suffer.
I can’t, for the life of me, understand how this woman allowed that man to impregnate her again. Their son just passed, she was grieving and he was sleeping around even using his passing as an excuse for his promiscuity. It’s disgusting, plain and simple. The only explanation to me is they are in some kind of cult
So, I am not so sure about a cult, but the rest, I 100% agree. I really just don’t get how she allowed herself to have another child with him. He was ABSOLUTELY disrespectful towards her and Zen, for that matter, in how he chose to spend his time “grieving” Zen’s death. I don’t give a crap if he thinks he was “grieving” by going out and sleeping around, unprotected. That is a load of crap he tells the media and apparently himself, so he doesn’t have to be accountable for basically being a huge piece of crap. It’s truly repulsive.
As a mother having gone through this with my son, I too did not tell anyone. I didn’t even tell my family “he might have cancer” we did biopsies, bone marrow biopsies, the works to determine what was going on and it wasn’t until I got the word “your son has cancer, please come to LA tomorrow morning to examine and discuss treatment” was when I called my family crying about what I just heard. Even then I kept it in and didn’t tell friends, simply because I didn’t want that attention and unsolicited advice. Once I informed friends, it was exactly what I thought it would be. Overwhelming amount of people who had NEVER experience cancer tell me what to do. One person “don’t do chemo! It’s poison! Get him medical marijuana!” And “you did this! It was all those chips and snacks you let him have!” Imagine hearing all of that. It doesn’t go away. It was awful and I regretted sharing. It’s def a difficult position to be in and super lonely. No one understands until they’ve lived it.
I’m sorry that this happened to you, your son, and your family, all of it.
No, many cant imagine the agony of any of it.
It’s very easy for others to say what they would or wouldnt do bc it’s not their situation. Ppl always have too much to say.
In response to Nick, I just dont feel that it was anyone’s business but the ppl who needed to know and had actual solutions. Which was none of us. None of his fans, none of the bloggers..
My heart and all the positive vibes I can give to you for being brave and sharing your story. You’re so brave.
Shameful for all those people to not support you.
Sharing your story has made me realize stop giving advice to people who aren’t asking it for when really they’re trying to process their trauma. I already tey that but I’m big in herbal medicine after my bought of illnesses.
My condelances for your loss. I have not lost a child, but my husband was killed when I was 18 with a 1 year old. I hope you have found healing 💛
I’m sorry to hear this, my 14 month old niece was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia, ( she went through so much) just like your little one.
Sending lots of love to you and your little boy.
I just wanted to say I am so very sorry for your loss. It’s (in my opinion) the worst possible loss in this life… they always say your children are supposed to outlive you and I think that, along with them not have gotten the chance to truly live life and grow up, makes it so devastating. It’s your child- they grew within, you knew them from the moment they were conceived, and they are all your hopes, dreams, wishes and unconditional love that you have within. I also wanted to express that no one, and I mean NO ONE, should have said some of the awful things you heard. Those people are not your friends. At all. What he ate, likely had nothing to do with his diagnosis. There is no way to really know that and regardless, it’s irrelevant and also just not worth mentioning. NO one should have offered their opinion on treatment, unless you asked. All that anyone should have done was offer their condolences, support and love. Whatever happens after this life- I believe you will be reunited. Sending love from one mom to another <3
Prayers and love to you, for going through what you have, and sharing THIS experience.