Nick Cannon has a strong and unexpected pillar of support in his children while navigating grief.
The daytime talk show host shared with the public that his five-month-old son Zen passed early this month after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Since breaking the news on Dec. 7, just two days after the infant’s passing, Cannon has been flooded with messages of love, support and condolences, all of which he said have helped him remain strong.
But when it comes to those closest to him, the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” actor says his daughter Monroe has proved herself to be his rock in the midst of the storm.
“My daughter, really, she’s so in tune and in line and wise beyond her years,” he told People magazine. “I got a lot of therapists, but she’s probably my best therapist. She keeps me in check. She’s so pure and so honest.” Monroe, or Roe as Cannon calls her, is sibling to his son Moroccan — the twins he and ex-wife Mariah Carey welcomed into the world on their fourth wedding anniversary in 2011.
“To be 10, she asks some really strong and powerful questions. Really, just it’s all out of love. She’s my oldest child. Even though they’re twins, she came out first and she lets everybody know it.”
He added that “she’s helped me keep it strong” even when sharing the heartbreaking news with his five other children. “Having to explain that to 10-year-olds [Moroccan and Monroe] and a 4-year-old [Golden] is pretty intense,” he shared. “But their understanding and them being there for me probably helped me keep it together as well as really deal with it. Specifically, even, Roc and Roe. They were there for the entire journey.”
The death of Zen, whom Cannon shared with Alyssa Scott, marks his second loss. The talk show host and DJ Abby De La Rosa — with whom he shares 6-month-old twins Zion Mixolydian Cannon and Zillion Heir Cannon — revealed she suffered a miscarriage in April 2020 before successfully carrying the twins.
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