On Tuesday’s episode of his eponymous talk show, Nick Cannon broke the tragic news that his 5-month-old son, Zen, died over the weekend from brain cancer.
Fighting back tears and ultimately breaking down, Cannon explained that his son, who was born in June, began exhibiting health problems early on.
“I always noticed he had a cough and so I wanted to check it out,” said Cannon, who also noted that at 2 months, Zen ‘had this nice-sized head, too. I called it a Cannon head. We didn’t think anything about it. But I wanted to take him to the doctor for his sinus and breathing. We thought it would be routine.”
But, Cannon explained, doctors discovered fluid building up in Zen’s head due to a malignant tumor. Surgery was performed to relieve the pressure by draining the fluid, and for a while Zen showed improvement. However, Cannon said that the child took a turn for the worse during Thanksgiving.
“The process sped up. Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain,” Cannon said. “The tumor began to grow a lot faster.”
Ultimately, Cannon said, “Over the weekend, I lost my youngest son to a condition called hydrocephalus that is pretty much a malignant, midline brain tumor — brain cancer.”
“I didn’t know how I was gonna handle today, but I just really wanted to grieve with my family, people who love you. I didn’t want to make it about any pageantry. So I kind of went back and forth of what I should do, but I was always taught, you go through it, you grow through it, you keep pushing. I’m here to show that I can fight through this, I’m feeling it, I’m vulnerable, I’m open. This is a special show dedicated to my beautiful son Zen,” Cannon added.
Cannon also praised Zen’s mother, model Alyssa Scott, as “just the strongest woman I’ve ever seen. Never had an argument, never was angry. Was emotional when she needed to be, but always the best mom, and continues to be the best mom.”
Cannon is the father of six other children, including twins Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir with their mother, DJ Abby De La Rosa; they were also born in June, 2021.
Watch Cannon’s discussion of the tragedy below: