Getting fired is just another line on his schedule, and he always gets rehired.
At a glance
- Known for
- Host of Wild 'N Out and The Masked Singer, actor in Drumline
- Before fame
- Youngest staff writer in TV history at 17 on Nickelodeon's All That
- Off-screen
- Father of 12 children with six women, lupus nephritis diagnosis in 2012
Rise to Fame
A kid doing stand-up on his father's public access show in San Diego doesn't usually end up running a Nickelodeon sketch series by 17. Nick Cannon did, becoming the youngest staff writer in television history on All That before most people his age had a driver's license. The Nickelodeon machine gave him his own show, and Drumline in 2002 proved he could carry a movie.
But the real career move was Wild 'N Out. He created the show for MTV in 2005, blending improv comedy with rap battles in a format nobody else was doing on cable. It didn't just get renewed. It became a franchise spanning live tours, merchandise, and over 20 seasons. The film career stalled after a few mid-budget comedies, but it didn't matter. He'd built something that didn't depend on box office.
In the Spotlight
ViacomCBS fired him in July 2020 after anti-Semitic comments on his podcast referencing Louis Farrakhan and conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family. Seven months later, they rehired him. He partnered with the ADL, co-wrote an op-ed in the Jewish Journal, and pledged a donation to the Museum of Tolerance. Wild 'N Out came back like nothing happened.
He hosted America's Got Talent for eight seasons, walked out in 2017 after NBC threatened to fire him over a comedy special joke, turned down a doubled salary offer, and landed at Fox hosting The Masked Singer at a reported $5 million per season. His daytime talk show averaged 568,000 viewers and got canceled in 2022. NCredible Entertainment reportedly generated $100 million in revenue in 2019, and he keeps stacking hosting gigs.
Side Notes
Twelve children with six women between 2011 and 2022. He's said the spree was a response to "trauma" after his divorce from Mariah Carey, which is one way to process a breakup. The divorce settlement gave Carey physical custody of their twins and gave him a Ferrari. He doesn't pay formal child support, opting for private arrangements. He reportedly spends $200,000 a year on Disneyland trips alone.
He was diagnosed with lupus nephritis in January 2012 and hospitalized again weeks later with a pulmonary embolism. He's been on 20-plus medications including chemotherapy drugs. Blood transfusions, too. He graduated from Howard University in 2020 with a criminology degree after commuting biweekly from LA to DC for four years. The pace is genuinely hard to explain.