Entertainment Tonight reports that television host Nick Cannon‘s youngest son, five-month-old Zen, recently died. Cannon announced the infant’s death during his show’s opening monologue, showing the audience a photo of Zen and breaking down as he described the conditions that led to his loss.
Born in June to Cannon and Alyssa Scott, Zen — Cannon’s seventh child — suffered from hydrocephalus, which describes the buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. This causes pressure inside the skull which can lead to a number of symptoms, including disability and death. It can be treated with a shunt, which is placed in the skull through surgery, however, despite doctors treating Zen with this method, things took a turn for the worse.
“Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain and the tumor began to grow a lot faster,” Cannon explained. “This weekend, I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen. We woke up on Sunday and was like, ‘I feel like I want to go to the water.’ We got a chance to go to the ocean.”
He also explained that show business is “all he knows,” which is why he’s back at work so soon after. While a pre-taped episode aired on Monday, the tapings he was scheduled to shoot were canceled and he’ll be taking time off from the show for the time being.
