Entertainment- Nick Cannon told Entertainment Tonight that he doesn't want his kids to be considered nepo babies.
- He added that encourages them to "go outside of the box" and pursue non-entertainment careers.
Nick Cannon has said that he is pushing his 11 children to pursue non-entertainment careers so they won't be considered nepo babies.
Cannon has fathered 12 children with six different women over the last 12 years, one of whom, Zen, died of brain cancer in 2021.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Cannon — who hosts "The Masked Singer," as well as a radio show and comedy game show show "Wild 'n Out" — said that he would rather his children "go outside of the box" than follow in his footsteps as an entertainer.
"Out of all my kids, I'm like, if they want to be in entertainment, that's fine, but that's almost easy," Cannon said. "I want you to do something that's challenging, go outside of the box, so you can see effort and perseverance and those things, because they're a nepo baby. There's advantages to a kid. You're just like, 'Oh, this is natural.'"
A nepo baby, short for nepotism baby, is often used to describe a child of a celebrity who follows in their famous parents' footsteps.
Cannon continued: "That's why I love... to see my kids try sports, because it has nothing to do with anything. It literally is however much work you put in, how hard you go, that's how you'll succeed in that space. They can learn all of those cool principles through having fun with their friends.
"I'm hoping for a few athletes. I hope I can be that dad on the sidelines somewhere rooting for them. But, again, if they want to be accountants or equestrians, I don't care."
Despite not wanting his children to become musicians, Cannon said that he does buy them instruments and enrolls them in music classes.
"I wish I would have learned theory and all the musicality at a very young age, because then I would be such a better musician even today," the rapper said. "So I'm giving them that gift. I'm like, 'Look, you're gonna get the lessons. You're gonna know how now you can do whatever you want to do. You get to impress the girls, or you can make a career out of it.'"
Currently, only three of his 11 children are over the age of 4, but Cannon said he has been "thinking about" starting up a family band.