American comedian, rapper and actor Nick Cannon has revealed a controversial ‘double-standard’ when it comes to parenting the twins he shares with ex Mariah Carey.
Cannon, 45, is the father of 15-year-old Moroccan and Monroe, who were born during his eight-year marriage with the singer, 57.
The pair, who married in 2008 after meeting at the Teen Choice Awards two years prior, finalised their divorced in 2016.
Since then, they have continued to co-parent their twins, with son and daughter reportedly spending equal time with both parents.
In a new podcast interview, Cannon has revealed what that looks like, sharing insight into his approach to parenting a son and daughter.
In doing so, the father of 12 revealed a shocking double-standard when it comes to monitoring their dating lives.
In an episode of The TMZ Podcast, Cannon revealed that, while son Moroccan had begun dating, daughter Monroe was not allowed to do the same.
‘My son been dating and I’ve allowed it,’ he told host Towanda Robinson.
However, when she asked whether his daughter was allowed the same privilege, he responded in the negative.
‘No, absolutely not,’ he said.
Acknowledging that this was a ‘double-standard,’ he maintained that he is ‘more protective of my daughter because there’s things out there that I have to protect my daughter from.’
He added: ‘Like, as we know, there’s certain types of individuals that you want to keep your daughter away from. My son, it’s a different conversation when he’s going out into the dating world.’
Remarking that it would be his ‘worst nightmare,’ should someone hurt Monroe, Cannon said that he was ‘going to jail,’ if anyone were to put their hands on his daughter.
Asked when Monroe will be allowed to date, he shared that he and his daughter had ‘made a deal.’
‘If she can explain to me what’s going to happen on these dates, then she can go,’ he said.
He also said that her brother would be expected to join his sister on her dates, telling Robinson that Monroe ‘ain’t going one-on-one with no little b*****d anywhere.’
With Monroe quickly approaching college years, the comedian acknowledged that her time away would be ‘out of my control.’
However, he said that if she can ‘explain it to me’ then he would be open to a dialogue with his daughter.
Cannon’s comments were met with stern criticism online, with Nicole asking on X whether this was ‘protection or double standards.’
luhgeno agreed, pointing out that ‘you can’t overprotect one and underprepare the other’, describing it as ‘how situations get created.’
‘Shouldn’t you be equally protective to your kids?’ asked eternallockets.
ZahavaEliza called the situation ‘pathetic,’ while Raiiydiin branded it ‘f*****g weird.’
Meanwhile, Bradlee98 joined a host of voices accusing the Nickelodeon All That star of ‘keeping [his daughter] away from men like him.’
The LipSync Battle Host recently insured his testicles for $10million after welcoming his 12th child to the world.
Following his split with Mariah, Cannon went on to father Golden Saigon, Rise Messiah and Powerful Queen with Brittany Bell, followed by Zion, Zillion and Beautiful Zeppelin with Abby De La Rosa.
He later welcomed son Zen with Alyssa Scott in 2021 but the infant died five months later, after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
Scott went on to give birth to their daughter, Halo, the following year.
He also shares baby Onyx with LaNisha Cole, and Legendary Love with Selling Sunset star Bre Tiesi.
On plans for a 13th child, he told People Magazine: ‘There’s no plans on the horizon as of yet,’ adding: ‘It’s so funny – everybody’s always trying to get me to have more kids. It’s like, 12 ain’t enough?’
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